Review by JD on March 6, 2012.

Heaviness is an inherent trait in metal and some bands naturally have it in spades. Through its history, metal have strived to become heavier and more nasty as well, to push the boundaries of musicianship to the breaking point without losing anything from where it had developed from. The UK has given us many heavy bands, originators Black Sabbath, the heavy lads Motorhead and the UK Doom gods Cathedral. Another name might get on that list: Doom Metallers Gallow God.

Gallow God can be summed up very simply and effectively: Very Heavy Doom Metal with intense melody. It is this strong attention to the melody while still being some of the heaviest Doom around that makes the statement. No amount of hype or putting on a spin by some overly paid A&R person could make this type of a declaration and be able to back it up with every word.

Slow and ominous with the strength of melody, each of the four songs on this EP seems to shape into a story that is heavy and melancholy and yet seems to capture the imagination and sends the listener into the realm that is made. I cannot think of too many bands that could pull this all off while being so heavy. Some bands do come to mind, but Gallow God seems to be the one I enjoy.

The UK have been one of metals most prolific band producers and once again they have done just that with greatness attached. If you like Doom played in the traditional way, but played very heavy, you just got the band that will deliver it. They deliver what you need, but yet you get a whole lot more in the process.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on July 2, 2019.

Pure straightforward death metal to the core on this EP. It's an explosion of tremolo picked guitars, blast beating drums, low end throat, and a grim aura that accompanies this release. Everything is mixed in well here. Guitars are on key, vocals unrelenting doom infested, mixed with grim darkness. Black Horizon is everything to look for on a release. Where they come from on here is truly original and memorable. The intensity is the main factor. Only a few tracks that exhibit slower tempos. Not many though.

This EP features a production sound that's quite well done. Everything flows perfectly. No instrument is left out without bad mixing and the album shines in abyssal gates. Not a whole lot of lead guitar playing, just crazy fast picked guitar with a letup in tempos invariably. The band is wholly original sounding here nothing copied from anyone else that plays in death metal. I was quite impressed here. A band that shows pure promise for the future.

It's good that they don't have much lead guitar going on because a lot of death metal bands feature it and it ruins the release due to poor outputs. So, they shied away from that and focused mainly on constructing solid metal guitar rhythms. All of the songs deserve praise. Very intriguing set of tracks constructed here. Only 22 minutes, but still worth every moment of this. It's an EP that you can never get sick of that's for damn sure. This one will be on repeat for a while.

The great part of this EP is that the band seemed to contribute all as one here. I can't wait for them to finally release a full-length album if they stay together. I'm sure that they will and more power to them because they are quality death metal. Uncompromising intensity and vigor here. The vocals go along well with the guitar. Everything fits together in unison. Most of the riffs here are tremolo picked guitars with a few chord outputs. Mainly blast beating songs with little let up on intensity.

If you want an album that displays pure talent without a whole lot of technology, Black Horizon hits home. I can't say any better enough about this release. It's truly a gem of a contribution to the metal community. Everything stays original here like I said, and the guitars hit home with amazingly awesome riffs. A definitely great contribution of originality, quality, technicality and interesting bits here that does metal in the right way. Pick this one up ASAP!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Tomek on January 25, 2017.

I’ve been doing some updating on our site lately and Nexhymn needed some attention. For those of you out there that don’t know the band - here are some facts that you may want to know. Nexhymn was formed by Throcult guitarist Ivan Alcala (which released some albums and generated some interest earlier in the 2000’s) and plays brutal, relentless, a no-nonsense death metal. According to their Facebook profile, there was going to be an album coming out in 2016, but I cannot find anything anywhere about it at this time. I’m going to be on the lookout for their new release, but for now we’re gonna concentrate on their EP Black Horizon - which came out in 2012 and is currently spinning in my CD player.

Whole thing lasts a little over twenty minutes, but with the intensity of it – it’s more than plenty. Brutal death metal from the first riff to the last, with furious drumming that is going from insane blast beats through more technical arrangements; but always  bringing the right dynamic to the forefront either when they are going a hundred miles per hour or crush with the slow mangle.  Riffs are brutal and unforgiving on this release, and with only six songs being presented here it seems that this was just a tip of an iceberg and there is way more of it from where it came from. Combination of those with a rumble of drums and pounding of the bass is a perfect storm of aggressiveness, but there one more element that puts this release over the top - vocals. There are only a few of female vocalists that can do what Holly Wedel is able to do and there is a whole plethora of  guys that try and do what she is capable of doing - but yet fall short. Her deep, vicious, inhuman and punishing growl may not be most original, but it can grind a brick to dust and she’ll smile while doing it. As a matter of fact, everything on this little EP seems to be coming exactly where it should be and when it should - so listening to it is a blast (pun intended).

"Uncompromising, straightforward, ferocious and without a single moment to give you a break" would be a really good way to introduce this release, so if you decide to give it a shot you better be ready. I wonder what happened with the new album and why was it delayed. I’m going to dig a little deeper into the vastness of the internet and try to find out more but as for now I’m going back to Black Horizon.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on July 2, 2019.

Pure straightforward death metal to the core on this EP. It's an explosion of tremolo picked guitars, blast beating drums, low end throat, and a grim aura that accompanies this release. Everything is mixed in well here. Guitars are on key, vocals unrelenting doom infested, mixed with grim darkness. Black Horizon is everything to look for on a release. Where they come from on here is truly original and memorable. The intensity is the main factor. Only a few tracks that exhibit slower tempos. Not many though.

This EP features a production sound that's quite well done. Everything flows perfectly. No instrument is left out without bad mixing and the album shines in abyssal gates. Not a whole lot of lead guitar playing, just crazy fast picked guitar with a letup in tempos invariably. The band is wholly original sounding here nothing copied from anyone else that plays in death metal. I was quite impressed here. A band that shows pure promise for the future.

It's good that they don't have much lead guitar going on because a lot of death metal bands feature it and it ruins the release due to poor outputs. So, they shied away from that and focused mainly on constructing solid metal guitar rhythms. All of the songs deserve praise. Very intriguing set of tracks constructed here. Only 22 minutes, but still worth every moment of this. It's an EP that you can never get sick of that's for damn sure. This one will be on repeat for a while.

The great part of this EP is that the band seemed to contribute all as one here. I can't wait for them to finally release a full-length album if they stay together. I'm sure that they will and more power to them because they are quality death metal. Uncompromising intensity and vigor here. The vocals go along well with the guitar. Everything fits together in unison. Most of the riffs here are tremolo picked guitars with a few chord outputs. Mainly blast beating songs with little let up on intensity.

If you want an album that displays pure talent without a whole lot of technology, Black Horizon hits home. I can't say any better enough about this release. It's truly a gem of a contribution to the metal community. Everything stays original here like I said, and the guitars hit home with amazingly awesome riffs. A definitely great contribution of originality, quality, technicality and interesting bits here that does metal in the right way. Pick this one up ASAP!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Tomek on January 25, 2017.

I’ve been doing some updating on our site lately and Nexhymn needed some attention. For those of you out there that don’t know the band - here are some facts that you may want to know. Nexhymn was formed by Throcult guitarist Ivan Alcala (which released some albums and generated some interest earlier in the 2000’s) and plays brutal, relentless, a no-nonsense death metal. According to their Facebook profile, there was going to be an album coming out in 2016, but I cannot find anything anywhere about it at this time. I’m going to be on the lookout for their new release, but for now we’re gonna concentrate on their EP Black Horizon - which came out in 2012 and is currently spinning in my CD player.

Whole thing lasts a little over twenty minutes, but with the intensity of it – it’s more than plenty. Brutal death metal from the first riff to the last, with furious drumming that is going from insane blast beats through more technical arrangements; but always  bringing the right dynamic to the forefront either when they are going a hundred miles per hour or crush with the slow mangle.  Riffs are brutal and unforgiving on this release, and with only six songs being presented here it seems that this was just a tip of an iceberg and there is way more of it from where it came from. Combination of those with a rumble of drums and pounding of the bass is a perfect storm of aggressiveness, but there one more element that puts this release over the top - vocals. There are only a few of female vocalists that can do what Holly Wedel is able to do and there is a whole plethora of  guys that try and do what she is capable of doing - but yet fall short. Her deep, vicious, inhuman and punishing growl may not be most original, but it can grind a brick to dust and she’ll smile while doing it. As a matter of fact, everything on this little EP seems to be coming exactly where it should be and when it should - so listening to it is a blast (pun intended).

"Uncompromising, straightforward, ferocious and without a single moment to give you a break" would be a really good way to introduce this release, so if you decide to give it a shot you better be ready. I wonder what happened with the new album and why was it delayed. I’m going to dig a little deeper into the vastness of the internet and try to find out more but as for now I’m going back to Black Horizon.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10