Century Media
2007
1. Call Out to the World
2. Never Again
3. Not the Only
4. Tell Me
5. Not Like You
6. Leave Me Alone
7. Till I Come Alive
8. Strong Enough
9. Me
10. Pain and Pleasure
11. Fools Parade (Outro)
Nocturnal Rites have become a fairly known name in the power metal genre by this point. The appropriately titled 8th sin marks their release of the same number and their position on Century Media's roster has put them toward the frontline of the power metal style. Personally, I've always enjoyed their releases so new Nocturnal Rites is always welcome. The one thing I'd nitpick about the band is that it appeared to me they'd rather settled into their sound since Shadowland and have basically released three albums in the same mold. A bit of a rut was starting to make itself apparent to me.
Well all that has changed dramatically with The 8th Sin and this really is the release I never saw coming. Throughout Nocturnal Rites' career they've always been a smooth flowing power metal sort of act so my first reaction to this release had to be shock. I have come to expect majestic power metal from the band about wizards and such fare and this is just strikingly different. From the first track this makes itself very apparent as the song sounds more like energized melodic rock with a slick and somewhat sugary chorus. Still it manages to sound like Nocturnal Rites with the same sort of guitar sound and vocals, but the catchy melodic rock hooks and straight forward and somewhat commercial style is entirely new.
I had been saying what Nocturnal Rites needed was to shake up their sound a bit and that's exactly what they manage to do with stunning results here. This album simply put rocks and establishes itself as a unique chapter in the band's catalogue. I don't think fans of the last few Nocturnal Rites albums should have a problem with this as it still sounds like NR at heart, but the songwriting seems fresh, alive, and powerful. From start to finish this album it just emotionally gripping vocally with some incredibly memorable melodies. Anything this different is bound to stir up some negative reaction from fantasy power metal diehards, but I find this release utterly refreshing and the one to launch the band back to the top of the heap in my eyes.
In conclusion, this is a smooth and powerful album with songs that are bound to stick with you. That's all I really ask of a band and this album delivers from start to finish. This is a Nocturnal Rites a bit different than before but change is not always a bad thing. This band which threatened to become stagnant in the constraints of power metal has reached out and seized new life for themselves. I would highly recommend this to fans of catchy and slick metal like Masterplan, DiMeo era Riot, Lullacry, and the like.
Highlights: Call Out To The World, Never Again, Leave Me Alone, Till I Come Alive
Rating - 4.5/5
2. Never Again
3. Not the Only
4. Tell Me
5. Not Like You
6. Leave Me Alone
7. Till I Come Alive
8. Strong Enough
9. Me
10. Pain and Pleasure
11. Fools Parade (Outro)
Nocturnal Rites have become a fairly known name in the power metal genre by this point. The appropriately titled 8th sin marks their release of the same number and their position on Century Media's roster has put them toward the frontline of the power metal style. Personally, I've always enjoyed their releases so new Nocturnal Rites is always welcome. The one thing I'd nitpick about the band is that it appeared to me they'd rather settled into their sound since Shadowland and have basically released three albums in the same mold. A bit of a rut was starting to make itself apparent to me.
Well all that has changed dramatically with The 8th Sin and this really is the release I never saw coming. Throughout Nocturnal Rites' career they've always been a smooth flowing power metal sort of act so my first reaction to this release had to be shock. I have come to expect majestic power metal from the band about wizards and such fare and this is just strikingly different. From the first track this makes itself very apparent as the song sounds more like energized melodic rock with a slick and somewhat sugary chorus. Still it manages to sound like Nocturnal Rites with the same sort of guitar sound and vocals, but the catchy melodic rock hooks and straight forward and somewhat commercial style is entirely new.
I had been saying what Nocturnal Rites needed was to shake up their sound a bit and that's exactly what they manage to do with stunning results here. This album simply put rocks and establishes itself as a unique chapter in the band's catalogue. I don't think fans of the last few Nocturnal Rites albums should have a problem with this as it still sounds like NR at heart, but the songwriting seems fresh, alive, and powerful. From start to finish this album it just emotionally gripping vocally with some incredibly memorable melodies. Anything this different is bound to stir up some negative reaction from fantasy power metal diehards, but I find this release utterly refreshing and the one to launch the band back to the top of the heap in my eyes.
In conclusion, this is a smooth and powerful album with songs that are bound to stick with you. That's all I really ask of a band and this album delivers from start to finish. This is a Nocturnal Rites a bit different than before but change is not always a bad thing. This band which threatened to become stagnant in the constraints of power metal has reached out and seized new life for themselves. I would highly recommend this to fans of catchy and slick metal like Masterplan, DiMeo era Riot, Lullacry, and the like.
Highlights: Call Out To The World, Never Again, Leave Me Alone, Till I Come Alive
Rating - 4.5/5
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