| Magazine |
Review of |
Rate |
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| folkvangrmedia.com |
Wearing a Martyr's Crown |
9/10 |
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folkvangrmedia
Since being founded in 2000 the Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band Nightrage has brought forth its own form of deafening brutality to the metal scene. With numerous lineup changes in their past came a fist full of talented notches under the bands belt, with members of such bands as Firewind, The Haunted, Dark Tranquility, Invocator and Evergrey, along with ex members of Dream Evil, At The Gates and Dimmu Borgir. Now they have what appears to be a pretty solid line up, and are pushing their way through and out to the rest of the world.
Wearing a Martyr’s Crown is the fourth studio album since their first release in 2003, and there really is no comparison from this album to any of their previous (Sweet Vengeance 2003, Descent into Chaos 2005 and A New Disease is Born 2007).
This new album brings you right in from the start with the euphonious yet potent chants at the beginning of Shed the Blood, you’re then thrust into an overload of unspoiled guitars met with impassioned vocals.
The rest of the album follows the same prominent attraction with Collision of Fate the next song on the album, capturing you with the melodic guitar riffs and throbbing drums, with the song finishing on a lighter note with double acoustic guitars.
Later on in the album we are introduced to the clean vocals of Antony in Wearing a Martyr’s Crown, the subtle yet demanding cleans do not take away from the sheer savagery of their ruthless sound, in fact they add something different not generally found in the melodic death scene.
Futile Tears starts off encompassing a more rock atmosphere only truly changed by the entrance of the vocals, which although the music behind seems to take a lighter tone, the combination of the two styles complement each other, this same sort of style is also heard in Mocking Modesty.
The album ends with a dulcet instrumental Sting of Remorse, starting off with the acoustic guitars you hear semi-often throughout the album fused with keyboards, the song then takes a on a more empowering stance as the guitars are changed to electric and the drums force their way through.
In a time when metal bands seem to be trying to keep up with the ever-changing scene, Nightrage has taken a step back, back to when metal wasn’t about the different hair styles but just about the music. This album is my favorite by them to date and I highly suggest when the album is released to pick yourself up a copy. 9/10 |
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