Project Nefast
Netherlands · formed 2013 · last active 2019
Project Nefast is a black metal project from Utrecht/Amsterdam, Netherlands, releasing through Tartarus Records, known for an absurdist, nihilism-inflected take on black metal built from 'noise, drone and repetition' rather than straightforward riffing. Key releases include Discomfort (2015), Dogma (2016), Sex Money Power (2017/2018) and NEE (2018); the band has performed at Roadburn Festival. Active as 'Nefast' 2013-2017, renamed 'Project Nefast' 2017 onward.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Drone 6 — Label describes the music as built from 'noise, drone and repetition' to create immersive sonic experiences rather than conventional riff-based black metal.
- Ambient 3 — Same minimalistic noise/drone/repetition approach is described as creating 'immersive sonic experiences,' overlapping with atmospheric/spatial texture.
CONNECTIONS
- All Are to Returnpath →
Shared label roster: Tartarus, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11MoroghorDroneBlackAmbient
Moroghor was the solo studio vehicle of Massachusetts musician David Lanciani (aka Dimaension X), active 2007-2010 and built around a fictitious three-person lineup of invented characters (Ndethatl, Ygorathla, Zatholal). The 2009 debut '...and Space as Chaos' billed itself as 'Psychedelic Xperimental Black Metal From Beyond,' while its same-year companion 'Darkness...' pivoted to minimal drone/doom the artist himself pitched as sitting alongside Sunn O))), Nortt, and Nadja. Lanciani has continued working similar minimal blackened-drone territory under other names since the project went on hold.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Grave GnosisBlackDroneAmbient
Grave Gnosis is a ritualistic occult black metal band from St. Petersburg, Florida, formed in 2015, rooted in Theistic Satanism, framing its recording sessions as literal ritual and trance work.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11Benthik ZoneBlackDroneAmbient
Portuguese experimental/atmospheric black metal project from Porto, self-styled 'Underwater Black Metal', built around Francisco Braga (aka Bragadast) and Artur Leão (aka Einsichtmar). Their 2022 album εἴδωλον weaves mythological narrative through drone-laden passages, tribal instrumentation (didgeridoo, berimbau, hangpan), and abrupt shifts between raging black metal and gentle ambient interludes.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11Crown of AscensionBlackDroneAmbient
Crown of Ascension is the solo experimental black metal project of UK multi-instrumentalist A. White (Oxfordshire), who is also the sole member of extreme-metal project Vessel of Iniquity and the industrial/drone/doom project Uncertainty Principle. The project blends blastbeat-driven black metal with industrial, drone and electronic textures, with cello recurring as a primary instrument alongside drum machines pushed to extreme tempos.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13UlveblodBlackDroneAmbient
Ulveblod is the solo black metal project of Vitriol, formerly guitarist of Dutch black metal band Nihill, launched after the death of Nihill co-founder/vocalist Michiel Eikenaar. The debut full-length 'Omnia Mors Aequat' (Fantoom/Consouling Sounds, April 2020) trades conventional song structure for extended, corrosive drones: reverb-drenched shrieks and 'demonic, sizzling guitars' sit on a single idea for minutes at a stretch (one closing track runs 21 minutes) until, per one review, 'static morphs into beautiful pulses.' The result sits at the abrasive, noise-soaked edge of black metal, with doom-paced riffs breaking through the wall of distortion.
- UnaffiliatedEI 9IsaBlackDroneAmbient
Isa was a solo Dutch black metal project from Arnhem, active only in 2008, releasing a single limited CD-R, Eindeloos, before disbanding. The record pairs raw, repetitive tremolo riffing with minimal, ambient-tinged guitar textures across three long, depressive tracks dealing with loneliness and isolation. It is a minor, self-contained entry in the Dutch DSBM/atmospheric underground with no documented links to other scene names.
- UnaffiliatedEI 9TitaanBlackAmbient
Titaan is the one-man occult black metal project of Italian musician Lalartu, based in Trieste, built around a conceptual exploration of ancient Mesopotamian mythology across Kadingir (2016) and ITIMA (2020). The project fuses aggressive second-wave black metal with dark ambient textures and ritualistic vocal chanting, aiming for a 'cinematic' rather than song-based listening experience. Releases are issued via the Italian label ATMF.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 23LocrianDroneBlackAmbient
Locrian are an American experimental trio formed in late 2005 in Chicago by André Foisy and Terence Hannum, with drummer Steven Hess joining permanently in 2010. AllMusic characterizes their sound as an eclectic mixture of black metal, electronics, drone and noise rock, shot through with ambient and industrial textures and dystopic, apocalyptic imagery. In 2012 they made the collaborative album Bless Them That Curse You with Mamiffer, released on Profound Lore alongside Sige and Utech.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13SchammaschBlackDroneAmbient
Schammasch are a Basel, Switzerland avant-garde black metal band formed in 2009, named for the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash. Beginning in black/death territory, they grew increasingly experimental, peaking with the triple-album Triangle (2016) whose final disc is pure ambient, and Hearts of No Light (2019), which folds clean/post-punk vocals and ritualistic dark-ambient into their black-metal core. Occultism, spirituality and surrealism thread their long-form, atmosphere-first releases on Prosthetic Records.
- UnaffiliatedEI 7Ôros KaùBlackDrone
Ôros Kaù is the solo black/death metal outlet of Belgian multi-instrumentalist CZLT (also of Sol Kia and Neptunian Maximalism), built from a self-described 'inner existential crisis' and steeped in occult Hermetic imagery. Across Imperii Templum Aries (2020) and Thanatos (2023) the project folds drone and psychedelic passages — including a Pink Floyd cover — into otherwise violent, blast-driven black metal. Vocals are handled by fellow Belgian musician Déhà, tying the project into Brussels' small experimental extreme-metal circle.