Is this week so devoid of new release that I’ve resorted to reviewing a melo death album? Apparently so. Those who know me are aware that my relationship with this subgenre doesn’t go much further than At the Gates, Heartwork era Carcass, and Unbound era Merciless. Yes, I respect bands like Dark Tranquillity and In Flames up ’til a certain point (Is anybody ACTUALLY a fan of active rock dreck they’ve cranked out for the last 20 or so years?), but neither ever clicked with me. That said, if this webzine has served any purpose besides being an excuse for me to interview artists I grew up idolizing and generating clicks (Can you sense the satire in my voice?), it’s for yours truly to explore bands and albums unknown, such as today’s act in review.
Nightbearer might hail from Germany, but one listen to their latest album, Defiance, has me thinking they’re not so secretly Swedish. Everything from the riffs and drumming, to the vocals and atmosphere, screams HM-2 driven metal mania. If they’re Swedish and released an album in the ’90s, chances are their influence will rear its scuzzy head at some point on this album. Now I’ve purposely avoided Swedish death metal worship albums since Defenders‘ conception like the plague, and for good reason. If you’ve heard one, you’ve heard ’em all…for the most part, at least. However, since I literally cannot remember the last time I’ve tackled a release of this nature, I figured I’d entertain you lot (and potentially torture myself) with this here review.
In all seriousness, Defiance starts out shockingly strong, or at least as strong as such an album can. The opening “His Dark Materials” is less melo death and more melo black, owing heavily to Dissection and leaving me wishing the rest of this album followed in this vein. Alas, the title track quickly takes charge, and is OK for what it is: Middle of the road melo death. Throw Gothenburg circa 1994 in a blender and this is what you’ll get. Then we’ve got the knuckle-dragging “One Church Over All”, which for braindead death-groove, goes far too hard for its own good. Unfortunately, any reservations I had about this album were quickly vindicated come a glut of songs that are cliche at best and total garbage at worst.
“Dying Knows No Bounds” is yet another faceless melo death romp, but the real offense comes in the form of “Reign Supreme” and “Under the Sun of War”, both songs fully embracing the modern evils of deathcore and symphonic death. If I were of a weaker disposition, I would’ve shut this album off right then and there, but you know me, always hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully, there is one such moment of hope in the nearly 10 minute “Ascension”. What can best be described as Nightbearer’s attempt at Edge of Sanity style prog-death, “Ascension” is a winding voyage of melo death, melo black, and acoustic insanity, which again, leaves me hoping for more of this adventurous fare in the future.
As Defiance comes to a close with the painfully predictable “Republic of Heaven”, I’m left with an album that, even despite honing in on a genre I rarely listen to, had the capability of achieving so much more. If Nightbearer focused on the “wild” aspects of their sonic palette and stripped their production WAY down, there’s a chance they could craft an effort capable of turning a head or ten. Instead, we’ve got ourselves an album that’s slightly better than At the Gates’ post-reunion output. Ouch.
5 out of 10
Label: Testimony Records
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
For fans of: Dismember, Edge of Sanity, Dissection
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