Nocte Mutamur

Hideclose’s Nocte Mutamur (By Night We Are Changed) isn’t just an EP, it feels like stepping into a dark, flickering hallway lit only by candlelight, where every track pulls you further into its shadowy story. From the first few seconds of Haunted View, Lenn Vane sets a tone that’s both cinematic and deeply personal. You immediately sense that this is a project built on mood and storytelling just as much as musicianship.

What really stands out is how the EP manages to sound heavy without being overbearing. The guitars have this thick, brooding presence, but they never bully their way to the front. Instead, they work alongside the synths and atmospheric layers to build a world, one that feels foggy, gothic, and slightly unnerving in the best way. You can tell everything has been placed with intent, every chord, every line, every moment of silence.

The narrative itself is surprisingly rich for a short release. Professor Dario Valperga’s descent into visions, doubt, ritual, and ultimately transformation feels like a gothic short story told through music. Each track works like a chapter:

• Haunted View introduces the creeping unease. • Sacred Play leans into something ritualistic and secretive. • The Darkness Draws Near brings that inner turmoil to the surface. • A Fatal Meeting is the turning point heavy, dramatic, and unsettling. • Nocte Mutamur ties everything together in this tense blend of danger, release, and inevitable change.

It’s rare to hear metal with this level of narrative subtlety. The lyrics never feel forced, and the vocals carry this weary, troubled energy that makes the character’s descent feel believable. It’s not theatrical for the sake of being theatrical, it’s emotional, and there’s a real sense of place.

Production wise, it strikes a nice balance between clarity and grit. You can hear the layers, but nothing feels polished to the point of sterility. There’s still that rawness that’s essential in darker metal, the thing that makes it human, imperfect, and real.

If I had to nitpick, I’d say the pacing is deliberately slow in places, which might throw listeners who prefer immediate hooks or big explosions of energy. But honestly, that’s part of the charm. This EP wants you to sit with it, to absorb the tension and the atmosphere rather than rush through it.

Overall, Nocte Mutamur is a genuinely impressive and atmospheric piece of work. It shows a clear artistic vision one that leans into mood, storytelling, and emotional weight rather than just trying to be loud or flashy. It’s a release that sticks with you after the final note fades, and it’s one of those projects where you almost find yourself wanting to go back to the start just to live in that world for a bit longer.