Review: Apex4X “Nightfall”
Nightfall is an incredible album that evokes feelings normally exist in blockbusters. Apex4X excels at immersive storytelling and epic world-building through a blend of conventional and unconventional elements, elevating the sonic form, where feelings, worlds and stories in poetry come to life fully. Nightfall is very cinematic. It’s almost magical, in a way. The songs in this album belong to the big screen, but at the same time, are even grander than the big screen. It’s quite mind-blowing what Apex4X achieved through this album.
“Hollow Kings” immediately draws listeners into the emotive, filmic sonic world. The song weaves melancholia with a sense of heaviness, setting mesmerizing melodies against a thick and gloomy backdrop. The texture is nuanced and ever-changing while the build-up and contrast are intense. It almost feels as if the song has found a way to engage all six senses through purely the song form.
The lyrics, which are dark poetries from the HackPoets, tell the story of a hollow kingdom built from bones and golds, while the record itself stands as a form of protest. The discussions happen in the songs are expressed through the lenses of history and fantasy. What’s truly amazing about Nightfall is how it stays current and relevant while incorporating rich lore and imagination. Apex4X balances a variety of things, which is a big part of why this album hits so differently.
“The Winnowing” is about the world itself. The song explores an even dark theme, sonically creating the space of hollowness and the changes that are carried out through the wheel of time. It’s reflective but it also leaves plenty of space for listeners to savor and interpret. “The Winnowing” is ambiguous and thought-provoking. “The Battle Won,” along with “Nightfall,” lean heavily into the alternative rock palette, involving more human elements in comparison to the rest. Both songs feel like a fall in a sense. It’s gritty and deeply touching, but the two songs have different scales. “The Battle Won” is more intimate while “Nightfall” is stadium-filling.
“High Justice” is like J. J. Tolkien meets Yellowjackets as it taps into the hauntingly raw and brutally sinister space, tackling the dark side of human nature, exploring themes like corruption, greed, and injustice — everything that tips the scale. The song feels like a wicked whisper, but like others, it feels very unbiased, as if in witness of what’s going on and documenting it for the others to know.
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