Review by Adam on August 28, 2003.

You might as well of been living under a rock if you are a melodic death metal fan and have not heard of Nightrage. The hype for this album has been on the rise ever since vocalist Tomas Lindberg (ex-At the Gates, The Great Deceiver & Lock Up) joined the band's line up. I went into this with some trepidation. Why you ask? The reason is that, to me, it seems every melodic death album coming out produced by Fredrick Nordstrom is hailed as the album to successfully follow the brilliance of "Slaughter of the Soul". I know I cannot be the only one who is sick of hearing this.

This album was pretty much what I expected it to be: fairly generic and aggressive melodic death metal. Is there really anything else to say? For me the answer is no. This record will have you thrashing around from beginning to end while your ears bleed and your neck swells. The guitars soar, the drums blast, and the vocals pierce through your flesh like a million razors. Lindberg hasn't screamed with this kind of intensity since... well... the last band he was in.

Nightrage also employ the talents of Evergrey's vocalist Tom S. Englund to give this melodic death metal album the essential clean vocals. However, to my surprise and pleasure, these vocals are kept at a minimum. I found this to be refreshing since I tend to think this guy's vocals, while good, can come off as a little cheesy. When the music is this intense it is best for the vocals to keep up and for the majority of the album they do.

"Sweet Vengeance" was an unexpected surprise for me. I went into it wanting to call it generic and passé, but the more I listened, the more I just let it go and banged my head. If you are over the whole melodic death metal thing, then do all you can to avoid this. Otherwise, I implore you to try this album out. If you are weak for this stuff like me, then you got a sure winner in Nightrage's "Sweet Vengeance."

Bottom Line: This is aggressive melodic death metal. If you dig this stuff, then go for it tiger!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 9
Originality: 6
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.8 out of 10