vote
7.5
- Band:
Nite - Duration: 00:32:37
- Available from: 03/14/2025
- Label:
-
Season of Mist
Streaming not yet available
Around 2005, when the spirit of contamination of the nineties was gradually attenuated, a revival of the most classic metal began to appear on the international scene, mainly that of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the first metal groups of the seventies.
Today this wave has not yet run out, on the contrary, it has gone over the years to acquire various facets; A very general differentiation can be made among the groups that try to follow in all respects the dictates of the Heavy Metal of the seventies and eighties, sometimes also using the 'New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal' label, and those which, while also adhering in large part of the genre, introduce some variants, mostly on a vocal or sound level. Some, on the other hand, choose to deviate from the typical sung and most acute and ringing, others choose more modern or hybridized sounds with the contemporary doom or stoner.
The Californians Nita certainly belong to this second category, as well as also the Castle and Hands of Goro conterrans: they prefer clear and precise sounds, opposing those who prefer to use certain gimmicks to be as far as possible, even going so far as to record in analogue, but above all in the sung the most striking difference, capable of clearly dividing the judgments between those who appreciate the proposal of the proposal of the proposal of the proposal of the US and who instead rejects it.
The singer – and guitarist – of Greek origins Gospelis Labrakis opts in fact for a choked growl that, lying on the Heavy Metal from the nital sulphurous colors, can remember a softer version of the black metal, dirty in Heavy, of “At the Heart of Winter”, the masterpiece of the Immortal with Abbath Guide from 1999.
The result is not at all extemporaneous, and if it will inevitably make the nose to the purists of classic metal – or of the growl – inevitable – may like those who, for example, on the contrary do not tolerate certain cantati clean too emphatic or stentorei, or growl made with the mold. Labrakis, with its particular vocal style, is limited to accompanying the excellent instrumental parts of the Nite, adding a little sulfur to the already present dark veins of music itself, as per the best Nwobhm tradition Angel Witch.
The album inaugurates great with the tutle-track crop “Cult of the Serpent Sun” which in its funambolicity refers a little to the splendid “karisma” of the Japanese Sabbats. The sound is classic but at the same time discreetly contemporary, clear but warm, frenetic but not hysterical; The voice is all in all charismatic, spot on and knows how to be appreciated. Continue on good levels with “Skull”, with its incipit to the “Solar Angel” and the general trend Priestiano, and with the martiality of “Crow (Fear of Night), still between Judas Priest and very first Savares; Also beautiful “Carry on”, with his phrasing to Crimson Glory. There is also space for slowdowns, with the oriental “Mystic” electric ballad and the left -wing of “Tarmut”.
The album is successfully successful, perhaps even more than the two previous already good NITE records – especially the second “Voices of the Kronian Moon”; The convice style is sufficiently personal, although certainly not innovative; The writing work of the songs is solid, the duels between the exciting guitars, and the rhythmic section is rich and varied. In addition to the excellent work of the leader Van Labrakis in the rhythmic and solo seat, the contribution of the other guitarist Scott Hoffman, the bassist Avinash Ventir – also in the hands of Goro, who made his debut with an interesting debut last year – and the drummer Patrick Crawford, must be underlined; All three offer solid performances, characterized by clear and precise sounds and warm and satisfying tones in the ear, which collectively contribute to the success of the album. The structures of the songs tend to the classic, often based on the alternation of stanzas and refrains, but the vocal style helps not to make everything too cloying, and the beautiful solos add substance to the compositions without boring.
In a sense, it can almost be said that the Californians discover hot water, simply going to mix together typical styles of the metal of the past decades: sometimes it really does not need to invent anything new to achieve the result, it is sufficient to know how to play correctly with what the musical tradition already offers of it.
It is certainly legitimate to expect something more from the sung, which, compared to the instrumental tests, is clearly much simpler and sketched, but the proposal of the Nite is this, and it is of the type 'take or leave': but be careful not to lose a job that you could appreciate due to a too hasty judgment, especially on the vocal part.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
