NOCTURNAL RITES – Phoenix

NOCTURNAL RITES - Phoenix
  • 7/10
    NOCTURNAL RITES - Phoenix - 7/10
7/10

Summary

AFM Records
Release date: October 6, 2017

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2017 has seen the return of several Metal bands after decades-long hiatuses with bands like Tytan (thirty-two years between albums) and Hexx (twenty-six years between albums) shaking off the rust to put new songs out into the world. Swedish Melodic Metal stalwarts Nocturnal Rites have returned from a decade of recording silence with their ninth album, the well-named Phoenix. One wonders if their substantial catalogue meant that the band felt more pressure with the new material; they have a lot more to live up to than say Tytan and their sole release. If so they channeled that pressure in a positive direction, because Phoenix has Nocturnal Rites building upon the sound they’d developed throughout the nineties on up to their last release, 2007’s The 8th Sin. The strong harmonies are still there, and the musicianship sharper and more assured than ever before.

Vocalist Jonny Lindqvist brings real emotion and pathos to the songs, especially in some of the more plaintive tracks like lead single “Before We Waste Away” and the exceptional bonus track “Used To Be God”. The band delivers some fantastic musical moments on many of the individual tracks; although if there is one small knock on the album it would be that most of the songs are very similar in tone and pace. “The Ghost Inside Me” is one of the more thrilling exceptions, kicking off with a lightning-strike drum fill and later revealing the album’s most majestic chorus and some of the best soloing during the break. Fans of the band’s earlier work should be very pleased with Phoenix, and it’s an effort strong enough to pull in some new fans as well.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!

Author

  • Daniel Waters

    Daniel was a reviewer here at Metal Express Radio. Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind wasn’t the first Metal album he owned, but it was the one that lifted the lid off his soul when he received the record as a gift on his 15th birthday. He's been a Metal fan ever since. He's probably best known as the author of various Young Adult novels such as the Generation Dead series and the ghost story Break My Heart 1,000 Times, now also a major motion picture entitled I Still See You, starring Bella Thorne. Writing and music, especially Heavy Metal music, has always been inextricably linked in his mind and career. His first paid gig doing any type of writing was for Cemetery Dance, where he wrote a horror-themed music column called Dead Beats, and when he was writing the first Generation Dead novel he had a ritual where he started his writing day with a Metal playlist that kicked off with “Crushing Belial” by Shadows Fall.

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