• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Nocturnal Rites is back with a new album that officially won’t hit the States until September 17th entitled "Shadowland". This is the fifth of their career, which started over a decade ago. They seemed to upset some of their fans on the last album moving away from the symphonic style elements and moving towards a harder edge. This is still without question a power metal band but in my opinion the harder edge I thought was a brilliant move. It is hard enough for a band in this genre to distinguish itself as it is without doing something at least slightly different. Either way the new album follows more in the footsteps of "Afterlife" but adding a little bit of their previous albums as well.

I always thought this band was OK but nothing that overly impressed me until I heard "Afterlife". After that time I was anxiously awaiting to see where they would take it next and to my enjoyment they have taken all the best elements of their previous albums and put them all together on this new one "Shadowland". Far better than average guitar work with soaring choruses and catchy songs overall make this a must have for power metal fans. If I would have to describe the sound it would be Jag Panzer meets Hammerfall. The largest highlight for me was the simply awesome guitar work. It is not the speed or highly technical nature of the guitars but rather the feel and doing just enough to add to the overall song without overshadowing it.

Overall a power metal album that any fan of the genre would be more than happy with and more than likely have a tough time getting out of the CD player. Highly Recommended.