Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Nocturnal Rites
Label: Century Media
Release: 2007
The Swedes in Nocturnal Rites have come a long way. They started out as a death metal band, recorded a demo and a promo record, and then dove into power metal waters with their debut In A Time of Blood and Power. Thankfully, Nocturnal Rites never sank to the level of clichéd, stereotypical power metal, since they’ve got quite a few releases worth mentioning under their belt – and we can’t skip the gem of their discography, Shadowland (2002), which I’d call a foundational power metal work and pretty much an instruction manual for writing great, infectious power metal. Now Nocturnal Rites are back with their eighth record, The 8th Sin. No beating around the bush – The 8th Sin is a sinful release… sinfully bad, the kind of record Nocturnal Rites should never have allowed themselves.
Right from the opening track, Call Out to the World, eyebrows go up. What the hell is that techno thump at the start!? Where are those good old raw Nocturnal Rites? The easiest way to sum up what the Swedes serve us on The 8th Sin is typically clichéd, completely generic pop power metal, which I didn’t expect from them even in my worst nightmares. There’s nothing here that would stir me even a little… er, stir my interest. The next song, Never Again, which Nocturnal Rites even shot a video for, confirms and cements that Call Out to the World isn’t just a bad start. The Swedes were clearly so out of inspiration that they had to shamelessly rip off the intro of In Flames’ Cloud Connected (from the album Reroute to Remain) for the intro of Never Again. Unacceptable!
Sadly, the “techno” bits aren’t the only downside of this record. The material on The 8th Sin suffers from a serious lack of quality and originality. This kind of power metal can be forgiven in fresh-faced bands, but definitely not in old cats like Nocturnal Rites, who’ve got almost fifteen years of career behind them! A fine example of how burnt out they are, besides the first two songs, is the third one right behind them, Not the Only, which is supposed to be an epic ballad but fails so badly that it comes off boring, pathetic and “heart-wrenching”. A weeping, suffering vocal and violins in the background are not a recipe for a successful ballad, boys! The 8th Sin is a record with which Nocturnal Rites wanted to come across as more serious, since the whole thing is steeped in an air of tragedy and sadness (yeah, for the listener…), and in doing so they obviously wanted to ditch the cheerful “Willy Wonka” power metal of their past. Big mistake… In fact, the guys’ complete burnout shows even in the song titles – Not the Only, Tell Me, Not Like You, Me… Come on, I’m not asking for fiendishly complex sentence structures, but they could have shown a little more originality.
I wouldn’t have minded a bit more inspiration in the instrumental and vocal departments either. Jonny Lindqvist’s vocals are by no means bad, but he sounds like every other power metal singer, and in today’s flood of power metal, a genre with some truly fantastic vocalists, Jonny is quickly forgotten. The instrumental side doesn’t stand out in anything either – the bass is inaudible anyway, the drumming is dead simple and sloppy, the riffing is burnt out and by the numbers, and the solos are played without an ounce of energy or passion. The material never gets above forced, Eurovision-style power “metal”. That this isn’t only the case with the “sawing” songs is proven by the sickeningly bad ballad Me. A combination of piano backing and whiny vocals we’ve heard countless times, delivering even more tearful lyrics, and on top of it all a female vocal comes out of nowhere to join in… Yep, the definition of burnt out.
I’ve always argued that every record deserves a chance to grow on you. This time, though, all I can say is that The 8th Sin is a big swing and a miss, and you won’t miss a thing if you never hear it. In fact, you’ll save yourself 40 minutes that you can spend listening to better power metal. The 8th Sin is the first big disappointment of the year – Roman emperors would have given a record like The 8th Sin the thumbs down… actually, make that both thumbs.
Lineup
Jonny Lindqvist – vocals
Nils Norberg – lead guitar
Fredrik Mannberg – guitar
Nils Eriksson – bass guitar
Owe Lingvall – drums
Production
Nocturnal Rites
Tracklist
1. Call Out to the World 03:48
2. Never Again 03:19
3. Not the Only 05:16
4. Tell Me 04:13
5. Not Like You 04:25
6. Leave Me Alone 03:00
7. Till I Come Alive 03:45
8. Strong Enough 03:13
9. Me 04:13
10. Pain and Pleasure 03:53
11. Fools Parade (Outro) 02:37
