Year: 2003
Tracklist:
1. The Tremor
2. The Glow Of The Setting Sun
3. Hero
4. Elusive Emotion
5. Gloomy Daydreams
6. Macabre Apparition
7. In My Heart
8. Ethereal
9. Circle Of Pain
10. At The Ends Of The Earth
11. The Howls Of Wolves
In 2003, when the Melodic Death Metal wasn't yet so tired, as it is today, Nightrage makes its appearance bringing back the mid 90's "Gothenburg Death Metal". With a classic style approach, riffs mainly taken from Arch Enemy and At The Gates, almost total absence of blast beats, some synths to give atmosphere, a very special guitar sound in the melodic solos using reverb and other effects, clean male vocals on some songs, blues scales, and with the occasional use of acoustic guitar and other features, this group stood out very early as one full of talent, novelty and, apparently, future.
This work reaches the peak of the Gothenburg style, bringing the best of it, but refreshing it with new ideas. It presents a is very melodic style, in both riffs and choruses, without stop being aggressive; it has beautiful guitar solos, and powerful riffs; everything, embellished with a good sound thanks to a great work in the mixing, and with a wrapping atmosphere.
This work, that seems to be a direct evolution of the classic Swedish melodic death metal, shines brighter next to the worn melodic death of today. Its uniqueness is more evident now than ever.
Something very particular about this album, beside its amazing composition, it's the guitar solo audio. Never before or after it has been heard a guitar like this. It is not because of the distortion, or because of the instrument quality, and neither because of the playing artist talent, it's just the sound of it. The overloaded reverb utilized during the solos, makes a very deep atmosphere, where the guitar takes up the front line, way above the other instruments.
Even though this band discography is far from good, their debut album, is one of the best metal pieces of all times. While it has a very classic style, seen in melodic death metal bands like Arch Enemy, At The Gates or Death, it's impossible to not get surprised by the special touch and novelty introduced by Nightrage. It's a unique album, worthy of attention and praise. Unfortunately, it's also an island in the middle of a mediocre discography, not lacking of technical attributes, but of new airs and talent in composition.
What happened in the next discs? Well, nothing good. Each one of the them is a disappointment.
In their next work, "Descent Into Chaos" (2005), the complexity in composition decreased notoriously, even making the whole compilation very repetitive and boring; the outstanding guitar solo sound, disappeared and was replaced by a generic one; less blues and acoustic guitars; the vocalist voice got worse (line-up change), just like the audio. Truly, it's not a bad compilation, but far from being outstanding, and, at least, very far away from the greatness of the first one.
Things didn't get better with "A New Disease Is Born" (2007). In fact, they got even worse. It's a boring and disappointing disc. It brings few nice surprises, but nothing that stands out.
“Wearing A Martyr's Crown” (2009) was, no doubt, a step forward. It had a richer, varied and not so flat composition, as well as a closer approach to the band first album style. Its a good disk, but nothing more than average.
Finally, "Insidious" (2011), it's like shit to the ears... in short.
Today, more than ten years after, the melodic death metal bands are everywhere, fusing almost any style into one very different from the classical. Sadly, also, today it's hard to find, in that big pile of crap bands, another that brings something astonishing. The style is so worn off that, even the fusing of styles and genres, can't help it.
If you want to listen to this great album, go to our VK community at http://vk.com/melolagniamaldita
No comments:
Post a Comment