Nightfall - Athenian Echoes (1995)

Nightfall pulled out all the stops for their third full-length effort in 1995, Athenian Echoes, discovering the precise median between the black, death, Gothic and doom genres in which they had dabbled for the years prior. This exhibits more range than perhaps any other album in their career, and what's better: the band had actually gotten a great production this time, effortlessly trumping Macabre Sunsets. Though it's not the easiest to categorize, this is perhaps my favorite Nightfall, with a number of strong tracks near the middle of the playlist that stand as practiced monuments to that formative fusion of genres that was evident in the mid 90s, when bands were experimenting with clashes of character, keyboards, multiple vocals and so forth.

First, the lead sequences on the album are breathtaking, majestic and exciting, especially in the tunes "Armada" or "Iris (And the Burning Aureole"). The lyrics have a decidely Gothic bent to their evoked imagery, but they're well written and celebrate the band's Greek heritage with laments to mythological characters. Most importantly, though, is the level of variation being put into each tune. Even the rather straightforward, melodic black charger "Aye Azure" molds itself into some pomp and circumstance with the orchestral synth strikes and serpentine dynamics of the guitar notation. But more interesting are "Ishtar (Celebrate Your Beauty)", with its epic, soaring riffs and sparser tribal bridge, or the extensive, Gothic elegy "Monuments of its Own Magnificence", which uses a cleaner but tormented doom vocal somewhere between Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost and Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost. The band even throw in some electronic tinges in "My Red, Red Moon (Emma O)", a foreshadowing of several later albums, and if you're looking for that fashionable 'Greek' spin, you get your sampled flute interludes and so forth, as in the intro to "The Vineyard".

There are a few moments among the 48+ which showcase a less interesting, predictable side to writing, in particular the guitars. But this is not news: both Parade Into Centuries and Macabre Sunsets also suffered from some filler, some need for further gestation. That said, though, the refinements are undeniable here, and its the last album of the band's initial creative cycle, before plunging off the deep end in a crass attempt to mold themselves into the European Gothic metal mainstream via Lesbian Show, Diva Futura, and so forth. If you're looking for a place to start exploring these 20 year addicts, Athenian Echoes is that place, whether you're coming from the angle of atmospheric death metal ala Septic Flesh or you're interested in Gothic/doom hybrids as wide as Paradise Lost and early Theater of Tragedy.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (mother of thee carnal desires)

http://www.nightfallstar.com/

Nightfall - Eons Aura EP (1995)

Eons Aura was presumably released to sate the anticipation for the newer, 'cleaner' Nightfall that would arrive through their third full length Athenian Echoes. However, it was out well in advance of that album, and could better be viewed as the 'dying gasp' of the darker, more brooding black/death/doom of the band's sophomore album Macabre Sunsets. A natural bridge from that chunky beast to the inevitable future of studio evolution. The EP features but four tracks, split evenly between covers and originals, but its overall quite solid and had my hopes up for where the band would progress in the mid 90s, a time in which, believe it or not, all manner of bastardizations and transformations were occurring among the base extreme metal genres.

Nightfall is not so successful upon the crossroads as, say, Septic Flesh or Amorphis, but they are certainly a viable alternative, as the foreboding "Eroding" proves with its dire, somber elegance, threaded with efficient leads, synthesized bells and varied gloom and guttural vocals. "Ardour Was I" is more of a straight death/doom that surges into black metal and a martial well of keyboard string-hits and melodic but forgettable rhythms. In all though, these two songs do match up well with anything off the first two albums. Then come the covers, which could not be more different! First, a martial/ambient rendition of a relative obscurity from Swedish dance group Army of Lovers, called "Until the Day Gods Help Us All", and smother it with resonant, guttural vocals for quite the effect. Lastly, they do a manageable impression of Manowar's show stopper "Thor"...with the guttural vocals and added synthesizer cheese you might expect, but it actually gets a good atmosphere going which is comparable to their originals.

Of course, there is just not a lot to this. Eons Aura is over and done with in under 20 minutes, but at least they were spent in moderate enjoyment. Fans who appreciate Macabre Sunsets or the more impressive Athenian Echoes will find it a welcome curiosity, and the two originals here really hit the midway point between those poles, but I was just happy that the band finally got a more reasonable production. In the long run, the covers don't resonate with me, and that does hinder the value. "Thor" is well enough, but how many bands have covered this, and how many do I care about aside from the original? Can't think of any. Nightfall make it natural, and make it their own, but I'd have to favor the Army of Lovers tune, which is far less expected, even if its rather simple in its own right.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (the end shall be mine)

http://www.nightfallstar.com/

Nightfall - Macabre Sunsets (1993)

Macabre Sunsets is both a step forward and backwards from the Nightfall debut Parade Into Centuries. Forward in that it more aptly evokes the hybrid of death, black and Gothic metal atmosphere that the band were trying to craft on the earlier record, but back in that the production is often quite boxy, overly loud and annoying for the vocals. What I most enjoy here is the substrate of sorrowful melodies being strung out over the percussive barrage, powerful if corny synthesizers lines; elegies being cast above a churning and grunting war machine, but once broken down into its constituent elements you wonder just how much better this might sound with a more potent balance of such struggling weights.

I'd liken a lot of the slow but sure material here to countrymen Rotting Christ. Tracks like "Precious/All My Love is Lost" and "Bitterness Leads Me to My Saviour Death" stride along with that same fell glory, that warlike passage into the archaic. However, the presence of the guttural vocals also places it square in Septic Flesh territory. A striking balance of two of their greater peers, and not unwelcome. Occasionally through, as in the latter half of the opener "Odious" or several accelerations during the longer tracks, the band breaks into this cluttered, primitive blast beat which feels as if its about to fall to pieces. They do a lot of atmospheric breaks just as on the debut, but the highlight would be the doomed melodic glaze of "Poetry of Death", in which sad and driving guitar sequences are spliced into thick, rolling pianos in an epic median between grace and gore. Like Parade Into Centuries, they also include an alternate, lengthier take on one of the tracks: "As Your God Is Falling Once Again", a swollen, 11+ minute cut which is mixed more evenly than the earlier album version.

Had Macabre Sunsets been produced with more care, then I would probably place it above the debut in overall quality. Alas, that is just not the case, and the rather crude standards set it just below its predecessor in overall effectiveness. But what's most interesting here is just how it derives its influences not only from traditional black and death metal, but the earlier Gothic doom sects like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. This was a band who might have tread a number of paths down the line, unafraid to mix and match mediums, though they inevitably veered off into a more crunchy, accessible Gothic metal territory that was a turnoff for those enamored of their ominous, oppressive roots. This sophomore is one of their better works, but the sound quality and somewhat bland, Romantic doom lyrics hold it back from

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (the morning of the mourning)

http://www.nightfallstar.com/

Nightfall - Parade Into Centuries (1992)

Parade Into Centuries was not only the first full-length for one of the longstanding Greek exports, Nightfall, but also the launch title for French imprint Holy Records, who have released quite a number of high quality albums throughout the past two decades. Nightfall has mutated almost incessantly through the years, originally working in a nexus of black, death, and doom metal before deviating into a more trendy, Gothic metal direction in the later 90s, but I've always found myself more partial to their formative works, in particular this album and its successor Macabre Sunsets. The band was also able to get a full-length together a year or more before peers Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh, so the debut bears mention as one of the first Greek extreme metal long-players.

Parade Into Centuries is a somewhat versatile offering, with a handful of faster paced black, death and thrash aggressors redolent of the late 80s Brazilian scene, contrasted against the more eloquent, Gothic/doom metal touches. "Crying Out the Fear Within" is the best example of the former style, a belligerent storm of predictable but effective speed/thrash riffing tempered in the hoarse, guttural resonance of Efthimis Karadimas, finely spliced leads, and an atmospheric breakdown beneath which the interesting bass lines curve. "The Passage" transfers this feral thrashing into a more ambient context, with a tranquil intro of clean guitar. On the other side of the dynamic range are the doom-spun, melodic "Domestication of Wildness" or the synthesizer infusions of the drudging doom/death piece "For My Soul, When the Dark Falls Into...". This ample degree of variation keeps the candle burning at both ends well throughout the 46 minutes of play length, the only unnecessary piece coming in the 'Longest and Deadliest Version' of "Domestication of Wildness", more or less a bonus track with an additional 2+ minutes tacked on that might have been better off supplanting the core piece.

The production and musicianship here were quite refined for a band with only about a year and a solitary demo under their belts. The guitars are cast in this dry but resonant tone which creates a morbid opacity to the rhythms, while the acoustics feel elegant and the leads, while sparse, are carefully considered. I mentioned the bass earlier, which is glossed with this almost progressive or jazz-inflected tone that feels unique beneath the cleaner passages, but even more so when accompanying the crushing riffs. The vocals did glean a trace of harsh monotony, and many of the rhythm guitars felt familiar even for the early 90s, but in the end there is enough of a journey being created that one might forgive some of its shortcomings for the value of overall escape. Nightfall have hardly been responsible for drafting essential masterworks in their time, but Parade Into Centuries certainly has many of the characteristics to dub it a cult classic, with a clear appeal towards the fans of the Gothic/black hybrids of its day.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (to build my own illusion)

http://www.nightfallstar.com/

Nightfall - Astron Black and the Thirty Tyrants (2010)

Nightfall may have always come in a distant third behind Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh when it comes to international interests, but I've nonetheless considered them a crucial component in the 'trinity' of Greek extreme metal bands to have evolved through a number of styles both old and new in their term. Spanning the architecture of melodic black death/doom in their early years (Parade into Centuries, Macabre Sunset, Athenian Echoes), to a quirky yet intriguing fascination with Gothic rock/metal in more contemporary times (Lesbian Show, Diva Futura, Lyssa: Rural Gods and Astonishing Punishments), the band have never ceased to impress me with their open minds and head first dive into various concepts and sounds.

Now, whether or not the band have succeeded with each new experiment is debatable, but I've found a number of their albums like I Am Jesus to become forgettable at best. Its a great pleasure that the band have returned from a four year split, aligned themselves with the high visibility of Metal Blade Records, and produced a concept album that delves deeply into their own past, modernizing their initial hybrid of black, death and doom aesthetics without completely abandoning the heightened sense of melody and rock influence that their more recent efforts have endeavored. The cover art here is wonderful if simple, and the subject matter intriguing, so all components are in place for a wondrous comeback...if only the music can deliver.

Sadly, the luster of this new work begins to dull when it comes to the effectiveness of the music itself. Considering the massive effort the band put into the production, which monolithic walls of guitars, synthesizer and Efthimis Karadimas' harsh, charismatic barking, one might have hoped for an orgasm of memorable riffing that would finally, at long last, deliver this deserving band out among the masses who have yet to appreciate their fairly rich back catalog. To be fair, this is not hard on the ears, each piece a symphonic condensation of every motif Nightfall holds true. Tracks like "Astronomica: Satwrnian Moon" and the resonant "Asebeia" carry more than their share of splendors, but even these are not exciting enough or enduring to really call back the ear. "Astron Black" is a competent melodic black metal piece with the expected driving, glorious guitars, but the patterns feel familiar and not exactly compelling.

In the end, the band's mesh of components resembles the Italian band Stormlord's recent ouput Mare Nostrum, only Astron Black and the Thirty Tyrants is just not as effective when it comes to the track by track staying power. With each arching wave of potency that the guitars here seem to promise, an adequate climax just never seems to arrive. The musicianship is taut and balanced in the mix, especially the drums and the exchange of synthesizer and guitar, but I never felt as knocked over as I should have been. The most interesting tracks are probably "Proxima Centawri/Dead Bodies", due to its mix of subtle, melodic death and glorious orchestral indulgence, and the measured heaving of "The Criterion", but even these and the raging lead-in video song "Ambassador of Mass" did not pummel or impress me into the level of submission I expected.

Ultimately, this is one of those albums which shall be dubbed 'just good enough' not to wallow below the line in the sand that is frustrated mediocrity. For glorious, huge panoramic displays of orchestrated studio wizardry that blend the bombast of a Dimmu Borgir with the more recent Septic Flesh efforts, I'm not sure you have many options outside of this, but if you're seeking more than just an enormous, substantial wall of rapidly fading wonders, your journey will not end here.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.nightfallstar.com/