NIGHTRAGE „Wearing A Martyr's Crown”

Music: Melodic Death Metal
Website: www.nightrage.com/index.asp
Country: Sweden/Greece
Duration: 51:42 (11 songs)


Cool songs: Shed the Blood, Collision of Fate, Wearing a Martyr's Crown, Failure of All Human Emotions

Almost every band has within the time of its existence experienced some problems with the line-up, and it surely isn't anything pleasant or advantageous. The band NIGHTRAGE is absolutely unique in this respect. A loss of 4 from 5 stable members would usually spell a clear end for any other band. But the only founding member Marios Iliopoulos didn't give up and managed to do incredible – not only he put together a whole new line-up; the new band seems perhaps even stronger than before. And that is, considering that the former team counted musicians like Gus G. (FIREWIND), Per M. Jensen (THE HAUNTED) or Fotis Benardo (SEPTICFLESH), unbelievable.

Fortunately despite these changes the band has retained its steady signs – namely the killing death metal tempo and never-ending guitar melodies blending together. After the previous a bit experimental record “A New Disease Is Born” NIGHTRAGE are getting back to the roots. This is also already third singer's credit – Antony Hämäläinen has replaced Jimmie Strimmel, who went to work on his pop metal project DEAD BY APRIL. And I must say Antony's voice resembles rather the voice of the first singer of the band Tomas Lindberg, maybe just in a bit more comprehensible form. Pretty loud, that's the right attribute, only from time to time dimmed into a very soft clean singing, which is, according to “A New Disease Is Born,” very reduced – so now it's just enough. The pillar of the music is, as always, created by forever competing or complementing guitar lines. This all is only emphasized with a beautiful acoustic work in some tracks, Hammer's outstanding bass lines and unpredictable precise work of Jo Nunez's drumsticks.

Hardly any band can put together such tracklist, that sustains listener's attention from the very beginning to the end. But NIGHTRAGE have succeeded in this respect. Right the first track “Shed the Blood” attacks listener's eardrums with aggressive accuracy, being the perfect weapon to evoke anticipation, that lasts until the end, because the album literally grows with every song. The unstoppable energy of the semifinal track “Failure of All Human Emotions” then lifts your ass from the chair. Those attentive surely recognize Sakis Tolis' voice (ROTTING CHRIST) in “Mocking Modesty” or a Gus G. solo (FIREWIND) in an instrumental track “Sting of Remorse.”

“Wearing A Martyr's Crown” probably isn't very cataclysmal, but it's a pleasing must-have for every fan of Swedish style and Melodic death metal in general.

note: 8,5/10

Tracklist

1. Shed the Blood
2. Collision of Fate
3. A Grim Struggle
4. Wearing a Martyr's Crown
5. Among Wolves
6. Abandon
7. Futile Tears
8. Wounded Angels
9. Mocking Modesty
10. Failure of All Human Emotions
11. Sting of Remorse

Line-up

Antony Hämäläinen – vocals
Marios Iliopoulos – guitar
Olof Mörck – guitar
Anders Hammer – bass guitar
Johan Nunez – drums