Nightfall

Nightfall – At Night We Prey Review

By Steel Druhm on March 5, 2021 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 36 comments

“Well look who’s back from the dead! Greek act Nightfall originally came into being around the same time as countrymen Rotting Christ and Septicflesh and played a similar style of blackened death metal. Their sound evolved a great deal over the following years, touching on doom, melodeath, Gothic metal and variations thereof. After a dead period between 2004 and 2010, the band released the oddball Astron Black and the Thirty Tyrants, which I found quirky and entertaining, and 2013’s riff-driven Cassiopeia which I loved. Then they went silent again. Seven years later Nightfall return with a heavily reformed lineup and a new direction.” Night moves.

Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2013

By Steel Druhm on January 2, 2014 in Blog Posts, 35 comments

“As I gaze out the windows of the AMG offices (located hundreds of miles beneath the Earth’s crust, so I’m not sure why we have windows), I can’t help but wistfully reflect on my time with this fine metal institution. In just a few short years, the site has gone from one man’s labor of love to a major force in the metal blogosphere with a staff of ten dedicated writers, and though the journey wasn’t always easy, it’s been exceedingly interesting and rewarding.” Follow along as Steel Druhm gets maudlin, waxes nostalgic and grudgingly drops his Top Ten(ish) for 2013. A Two Kleenex read!

Record(s) o’ the Month – January 2013

By Angry Metal Guy on February 1, 2013 in 2013, Blog Posts, Record o' the Month, 19 comments

After donning the blue and gold on AngryMetalGuy.com for a whole month and making every red-blooded Swede vaguely uncomfortable due to the latent nationalism that they can’t possibly ever admit to, it’s time for a change. Indeed, 2013’s first month has passed and while it hasn’t been extraordinarily explosive, it brought with it a few great releases that deserve a second (or third or fourth) look. So, without further ado…

Candlemass – Psalms for the Dead Review

By Steel Druhm on May 29, 2012 in 2012, 3.0, Doom Metal, Napalm Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Doom Metal, 4 comments

What a long, strange trip it’s been, eh friends? That pretty much describes the career arc of the doom metal institution that is Candlemass. After a classic debut and three outstanding releases helmed by the mad monk Marcolin, Leif Edling’s doom troupe has watched their stock rise and fall enough to make the average trader leap to his death in abject frustration.

Septic Flesh – The Great Mass Review

By Steel Druhm on April 13, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, Death Metal, Greek Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Season of Mist, Black Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 10 comments

Yet another highly anticipated 2011 release is upon us! This is the eighth crusade by the Greek masters of blackened death Septic Flesh and they brought a few new tricks with them as they refine their crazed classical music meets brutality approach. 2008’s Communion was hailed as a highly creative accomplishment and The Great Mass is a continuation and enlargement of that sound and concept. Taking their basic blackened death style and merging it with performances from the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and a full choir, Septic Flesh have now become a full blown orchestral/symphonic death metal juggernaut. With a full orchestra involved, this is obviously going to be a bigger, more bombastic album and its hardly easy listening. While they traffic in the same over-the-top, dramatic theatrics as Therion, they manage to keep things much more linear (and therefore much more listenable). While bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir have long employed symphonic orchestration to accent their sound, Septic Flesh have now embedded it into their core and made it an integral part of their make up and identity.

Nightfall – Astron Black and the Thirty Tyrants Review

By Steel Druhm on September 23, 2010 in 2010, 4.0, Avante Garde, Metal Blade, Reviews, Gothic Metal, 4 comments

Now here’s a bird of a different color and what an odd duck it is! Astron Black and the Thirty Tyrants (a grand title) is the eighth platter from long running Greek black/death/doom/gothic/kitchensink act Nightfall. Along with their better known contemporaries Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh, these Spartans have evolved, devolved and transmogrified into different animals over their long existence and their current incarnation is very interesting indeed. Although they defy easy categorization, the focus lies somewhere between black and gothic metal but with traces of everything else tossed in with reckless abandon. The end product is at times confusing, pretty damn cool and not really like anything else out there right now.