Review by Felix on February 2, 2020.

Nocturnal’s Storming Evil was a killer album and so I was glad to hear that a new output has seen the light of day. Well, one new track and a cover of “Invincible Force” – that’s not much, right? Of course, I know all these wonderful arguments like “this is our "Reign in Blood" 7-inch” or “quality beats quantity”. That’s correct, but great quality and appropriate quantity would have been a good idea as well. Anyhow, the new song “Preventive War” sounds like a strong leftover of their full-length from 2014. Jagged, sharp riffs, light speed and (now comes the difference) a new male vocalist. Pino, lead vocalist of Witchburner (will these dudes ever record a new album?), lends the song his voice and his performance meets the expectations in a convincing manner. “Invincible Force” cannot keep up with the original. Okay, this might be a matter of course, but this version really lacks power and the sound is subject to fluctuations. There is only good thing I can say about this version. Nocturnal do not hide the fact that they play a cover – and this distinguishes them from their comrades called Nuctemeron...

…because the stylistically very well comparable dudes from Saxony present a song called “Eternal Proscription” as their own, but there is a lot of “Crionics” in it. Okay, after two millions of thrash metal songs it might be that some similarities are inevitable, but I thought that Slayer’s debut is well known and to copy one of its parts note by note is either an act of worship or pure audacity. By the way, this dubious action was pretty unnecessary in view of the indisputable potential Nuctemeron shows here. As mentioned before, their songs lie in close proximity to those of their split vinyl partners and this means that a sinister aura meets diabolic nagging, slicing guitars and rumbling yet propelling drums. Both tracks make clear that the German underground is not at risk to dry out. Moreover, it seems as if black thrash metal is never getting old, even if Nocturnal do not reach their top form this time. Nevertheless, the vinyl with the double artwork, both in the vein of old school demos, is recommendable.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10