Nightrage: A New Disease Is Born

The Swedish/Greek melodic death metal band Nightrage have gone through quite a few changes over the last year or so. First, they have moved from Century Media to the German label Lifeforce (a very important signing for the label no doubt), and in addition there have been some major line-up changes. Gone are guitarist Gus G. (who is now concentrating solely on Firewind) and lead singer Tomas Lindberg. New in the band this time around are vocalist Jimmie Stremmel and drummer Alex Svenningson, who join returning members Marios Iliopoulos (guitar) and Henric Clarcson (bass), and since the recording of the album tha band has added a second guitarist named Constantine.

Now, with a revitalized line-up, how does the music fare you ask? Quite well actually. Stremmel has a great set of pipes, whether he's screaming off some fierce melodic death metal growls or laying down some clean melodic passages. As always the crisp, virtuoso guitar work of Iliopoulos is spot on (check out his blazing leads on "Death-Like Silence" or the crushing riffs of "Spiral"), and I'm detecting more of a melodic slant from him this time around, which are giving these songs a tad more accessible nature. You just can't help being hooked in by the catchy melodies and heavy arrangements of "A Condemned Club" or the blistering mayhem of "Scars of the Past", two great examples of Nightrage's "classier" sound. As much as the talents of Gus G. are missed, hearing Iliopoulos contribute dizzying guitar passages on tunes "De-Frame", "Surge of Fury", and the instrumental title track bears the question "Gus who?".

Fret not extreme metal lovers, although there is an abundance of more melodic fare here, the band threw in plenty of death metal mania, like the rampaging tracks "Encircle", "Drone", and "Spiritual Impulse". In fact, A New Disease Is Born actually a very heavy album overall, just presented in a very melodic way. Marios Iliopoulos has finally arrived as a bona-fide guitar hero, and singer Jimmie Stremmel, while not as ferocious and commanding as the legend he replaces, Tomas Lindberg, he is a real find and I think fits in better with this band. Despite the line-up changes and move to a new label, Nightrage are in a great position to jump to the big leagues with this one. Highly recommended to fans of melodic death metal.

Track Listing
1. Spiral
2. Reconcile
3. Death-Like Silence
4. Condemned Club
5. Scars of the Past
6. De-Fame
7. Scathing
8. Surge of Pity
9. Encircle
10. Drone
11. Spiritual Impulse
12. New Disease Is Born [Instrumental]

Added: June 10th 2007
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Nightrage Website
Hits: 3704
Language: english

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