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Nightrage

A New Disease Is Born

Written by: AP on 27/03/2007 20:28:47

Nightrage is one of those bands that surfaced after the Gothenburg surge and just droned along in its drag in hopes of tasting a piece of the pie. It was one of those bands that one found in the recommended for the fans of sections of reviews of bands like In Flames and found it not to fulfill one’s conception of melodic death metal in the way that In Flames did. There are only so many riffs a guitar can deliver – every guitarist knows this – so metal acts need to put some serious thought to re-thinking their output in other ways.

Nightrage’s weapon of choice in this regard is metalcore, with their newest release "A New Disease Is Born". The wrong gun, many will conclude I suspect. Whether or not the metalcore mayhem that has exploded in the past few years is something to frown upon is debatable, but this quintet certainly knows how to produce carefully calculated said material – not necessarily a prime achievement, but an achievement nonetheless – though I would have liked to see more justice done to the album’s title.

The production and musicianship are in place, and it is sure to invite a more diverse audience to their shows – the makings of a solid album. The band has also ensured that their roots are still in death metal ground, using metalcore merely to polish their well-composed music with hooks and clean choruses. Yet the band passed where the fence was at its lowest and this corrodes the stardust off the cover. While Nightrage has certainly escaped the stain of mediocrity, the conventionality of "A New Disease Is Born" makes it little above average.

That is not to say that "A New Disease Is Born" is a tired effort. It is undoubtedly the band’s finest work to date and a milestone. Nightrage seems to know exactly what goals it wants to reach and lays them out through a well-crafted hybrid that neither awes nor disappoints. From a foundation this solid it is difficult to go anywhere but up.

Download: Scathing, Spiral
For the fans of: Scar Symmetry, Children of Bodom, In Flames
Listen: Myspace

Release date 12.03.2007
Lifeforce
Provided by Target ApS