Review by Adam M on December 12, 2014.

Abysmal Dawn display a straightforward take on death metal that is littered with blast beats. The music on this album is played at a breakneck pace that is always exhilarating. The band’s style is unusually unique, despite not being terribly forward thinking. Nile and Suffocation are decent reference points, but there is more of a focus on speed than there is with either of those bands.

Though there is some technical prowess to the band’s performance, the razor sharp riffs are written in a fashion that lends to musical tightness as well. The problem some people are having with the band is that they think they sound generic and don’t do anything interesting. I largely disagree with this sentiment. I’ll point to the cover of the Dissection song alone as an inventive take on the already excellent original Night’s Blood. It’s also interesting because a hint of Dissection can be detected in the band’s sound along with the other death metal influences. The excellent drumming in Human Obsolescence is another example of a moment that is intriguing enough to stick out from the pack.

Obsolescence is certainly one of the most consistent collections of death metal songs released this year. It may not have a neat aspect to carry it to a higher plane like the shoegaze in Fallujah’s The Flesh Prevails, however. Many death metal fans will also find this album punishing in the weight of its music. This makes for an album that is perfect to head bang along to. The power of the music also covers up a slight lack of the use of an appropriate mood that the band could have emphasized more. Regardless, Obsolescence is an excellent slab of death metal that fans of the genre should be enamored with.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 12, 2014.

Abysmal Dawn display a straightforward take on death metal that is littered with blast beats. The music on this album is played at a breakneck pace that is always exhilarating. The band’s style is unusually unique, despite not being terribly forward thinking. Nile and Suffocation are decent reference points, but there is more of a focus on speed than there is with either of those bands.

Though there is some technical prowess to the band’s performance, the razor sharp riffs are written in a fashion that lends to musical tightness as well. The problem some people are having with the band is that they think they sound generic and don’t do anything interesting. I largely disagree with this sentiment. I’ll point to the cover of the Dissection song alone as an inventive take on the already excellent original Night’s Blood. It’s also interesting because a hint of Dissection can be detected in the band’s sound along with the other death metal influences. The excellent drumming in Human Obsolescence is another example of a moment that is intriguing enough to stick out from the pack.

Obsolescence is certainly one of the most consistent collections of death metal songs released this year. It may not have a neat aspect to carry it to a higher plane like the shoegaze in Fallujah’s The Flesh Prevails, however. Many death metal fans will also find this album punishing in the weight of its music. This makes for an album that is perfect to head bang along to. The power of the music also covers up a slight lack of the use of an appropriate mood that the band could have emphasized more. Regardless, Obsolescence is an excellent slab of death metal that fans of the genre should be enamored with.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 12, 2014.

Abysmal Dawn display a straightforward take on death metal that is littered with blast beats. The music on this album is played at a breakneck pace that is always exhilarating. The band’s style is unusually unique, despite not being terribly forward thinking. Nile and Suffocation are decent reference points, but there is more of a focus on speed than there is with either of those bands.

Though there is some technical prowess to the band’s performance, the razor sharp riffs are written in a fashion that lends to musical tightness as well. The problem some people are having with the band is that they think they sound generic and don’t do anything interesting. I largely disagree with this sentiment. I’ll point to the cover of the Dissection song alone as an inventive take on the already excellent original Night’s Blood. It’s also interesting because a hint of Dissection can be detected in the band’s sound along with the other death metal influences. The excellent drumming in Human Obsolescence is another example of a moment that is intriguing enough to stick out from the pack.

Obsolescence is certainly one of the most consistent collections of death metal songs released this year. It may not have a neat aspect to carry it to a higher plane like the shoegaze in Fallujah’s The Flesh Prevails, however. Many death metal fans will also find this album punishing in the weight of its music. This makes for an album that is perfect to head bang along to. The power of the music also covers up a slight lack of the use of an appropriate mood that the band could have emphasized more. Regardless, Obsolescence is an excellent slab of death metal that fans of the genre should be enamored with.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 12, 2014.

Abysmal Dawn display a straightforward take on death metal that is littered with blast beats. The music on this album is played at a breakneck pace that is always exhilarating. The band’s style is unusually unique, despite not being terribly forward thinking. Nile and Suffocation are decent reference points, but there is more of a focus on speed than there is with either of those bands.

Though there is some technical prowess to the band’s performance, the razor sharp riffs are written in a fashion that lends to musical tightness as well. The problem some people are having with the band is that they think they sound generic and don’t do anything interesting. I largely disagree with this sentiment. I’ll point to the cover of the Dissection song alone as an inventive take on the already excellent original Night’s Blood. It’s also interesting because a hint of Dissection can be detected in the band’s sound along with the other death metal influences. The excellent drumming in Human Obsolescence is another example of a moment that is intriguing enough to stick out from the pack.

Obsolescence is certainly one of the most consistent collections of death metal songs released this year. It may not have a neat aspect to carry it to a higher plane like the shoegaze in Fallujah’s The Flesh Prevails, however. Many death metal fans will also find this album punishing in the weight of its music. This makes for an album that is perfect to head bang along to. The power of the music also covers up a slight lack of the use of an appropriate mood that the band could have emphasized more. Regardless, Obsolescence is an excellent slab of death metal that fans of the genre should be enamored with.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Felix on February 2, 2020.

The first albums of Nocturnal offered decent thrash metal of the harder kind. I enjoyed these outputs without getting infected by the music. The pieces did not develop a long-term effect, at least from my point of view. I was therefore not especially looking forward to the band´s third full-length but Storming Evil changed my attitude completely. Now I am concerned with only one question: when will they release their fourth album? It is urgently necessary.

To start with, I still do not like the paintings of Phil Lawvere. But apart from the unfortunate selection of the stereotype cover, the performance of frontwoman Tyrannizer and her bandmates is convincing on whole line. The sophisticated song material is quite diverse, although Nocturnal do not cross the borders of their genre. Short blast beat parts are well integrated ("Preaching Death"), but this thrashing army also shines with the slowly crawling "Taken by Fire". Due to its flattening riffs, the latter marks a mighty and devastating anthem and Tyrannizer´s long, drawn-out screams appear as an acoustic flamethrower. While avoiding using only one compositional approach, Nocturnal prove their skills in different disciplines. They create brief eruptions ("Ripping Blades") as well as more complicated tracks such as "Tyrants of Damnation". Each and every song contributes to the overwhelming general impression. And, of course, the remarkable quality of the individual songs is the basis for the very successful flow of the album. Admittedly, its title might be a cliché. Nevertheless, with regard to the band´s belligerence and energy, Storming Evil describes the blackened thrash inferno in a suitable manner.

It goes without saying that the vocals of Tyrannizer do not sound very female. Her hoarse roaring increases the level of aggression without delivering an exceptional vocal performance. This is part of the mysterious formula of Nocturnal; they do not use unusual ingredients, but the result sounds exceptionally good. It can clearly be seen how much engagement Nocturnal have put into this album. Due to this fact, the band can pride itself on equipping the songs with an appropriate production. It simply presents the un-adultered sound of thrash metal while using the technical possibilities of today. To describe it differently, the band is not obsessively focused on the sound of the eighties. Fortunately, the sound does not have a sterile character. The sharp and precise riffs can benefit most from the tightness of the production. They lay the foundation for the uncontrollable fierceness that dominates the atmosphere of an album, which definitely does not contain throwaway tracks.

I strongly recommend checking the entire full-length. But if you are short on time, "Crushing the Bones" may give you an impression of the album´s direction. The fast-paced song scores with excellent riffs, fantastic guitar lines, well inserted breaks and a highly memorable chorus. In view of such songs, it well could be that Nocturnal will occupy a top position in terms of German black thrash metal.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 12, 2014.

Abysmal Dawn display a straightforward take on death metal that is littered with blast beats. The music on this album is played at a breakneck pace that is always exhilarating. The band’s style is unusually unique, despite not being terribly forward thinking. Nile and Suffocation are decent reference points, but there is more of a focus on speed than there is with either of those bands.

Though there is some technical prowess to the band’s performance, the razor sharp riffs are written in a fashion that lends to musical tightness as well. The problem some people are having with the band is that they think they sound generic and don’t do anything interesting. I largely disagree with this sentiment. I’ll point to the cover of the Dissection song alone as an inventive take on the already excellent original Night’s Blood. It’s also interesting because a hint of Dissection can be detected in the band’s sound along with the other death metal influences. The excellent drumming in Human Obsolescence is another example of a moment that is intriguing enough to stick out from the pack.

Obsolescence is certainly one of the most consistent collections of death metal songs released this year. It may not have a neat aspect to carry it to a higher plane like the shoegaze in Fallujah’s The Flesh Prevails, however. Many death metal fans will also find this album punishing in the weight of its music. This makes for an album that is perfect to head bang along to. The power of the music also covers up a slight lack of the use of an appropriate mood that the band could have emphasized more. Regardless, Obsolescence is an excellent slab of death metal that fans of the genre should be enamored with.

Rating: 8 out of 10