Germany's Night In Gales released this sophomore album in 1998, Thunderbeast being a continuation of the Gothenburg styled melodic death metal littered with thunderous power metal & progressive metal leanings that they showed on their full-length debut Towards the Twilight a year earlier. Metal Mind Productions has delivered a tasty remaster of this long overlooked metal gem here, housed in a lovely little digipack with the original artwork intact, lyrics, photos, bonus tracks, and band info. Though the music of Night In Gales is certainly not groundbreaking by any means, what they do they do extremely well, delivering solid melodic death metal with plenty of musical fireworks. Tunes like "Perihelion", "Darkzone Anthem", and the raging title track feature no shortage of powerhouse rhythms, chugging riffs, inspired harmony guitar lines (at times pretty damn intricate) and the effective growls courtesy of Björn Goosses. If you dig the dual lead guitar harmonies made famous by Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and later brought into the extreme metal market by In Flames, At the Gates, Carcass, Arch Enemy, and Dark Tranquility, then you've come to the right place here, as there's plenty of sinewy axe wielding going on throughout Thunderbeast. " Crystalthorns Call" sees Jens & Frank Basten laying down heaping amounts of swirling leads amidst the pummeling riffage, giving the song a proggy, almost Celtic feel, and "The Shadowchamber" is just a perfect example of crunchy, classic melo-death, the brothers riff attack chock full of melody despite the ferocious nature of the song.
The band is currently putting the finishing touches on a new CD, so hopefully renewed interest in this often overlooked act will be on the horizon. In the meantime, check out Metal Mind's reissues of their back catalog for a taste of some impressive melodic death metal from Germany that you might have missed the first time around.
Track Listing
1. Intruder 05:03
2. Darkzone Anthem 04:08
3. Perihelion 03:58
4. Crystalthorns` Call 04:17
5. Feverfeast 04:23
6. The Shadowchamber 04:04
7. Thunderbeast 05:11
8. I Am The Dungeongod 04:06
9. Blackfleshed 04:54
10. The Dustcrown 03:12
11. Stormchild 03:57
12. Heralds Of Starfall 04:03
13. From Ebony Skies (Thunder Version) 03:02
14. Autumn Water-bonus track
15. Tragedians-bonus track
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