Review by Jeger on March 6, 2025.

I don't cover heavy metal too often, and it's because I'm sick of all the '80's throwback, bordering-on-glam bullshit that we've been subjected to over the course of the past 20 years with all these young bands attempting to somehow rehash the glory of the heyday by wearing what look like heavy metal costumes and sounding like something you'd hear in your older brother's IROC back in '86 as you made your way to Tower Records or Radio Shack. Heavy metal is a fairly versatile sub-genre and yet here these bands are just stroking it off as opposed to doing something great with it. I can't speak for you, but I, for one, am burned out on '80's heavy metal satires. And look, here comes Nite. Get a load of these dudes…

Nite - blackened heavy metal straight outta where it all kicked off - San Francisco, California, USA. Two and soon to be three LPs to boast as we prepare for the arrival of Cult Of The Serpent Sun, scheduled for a March 14 release via Season of Mist. You're gonna dig this one. Heavy metal with testicular fortitude. Heavy enough to get you in fighting spirit and melodic enough to get your eyelids to droop like a bong hit of Bubba Kush. Ah, this band has grown immensely since their debut, and I'm starting to get chubbed here. I don't know what's better: Van's Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Beherit) heralding vocals, Scott's triumphant axe work or the rhythm section consisting of Avinash Mittur (bass) & Patrick Crawford (drums) and their intrepid, martial and dense-as-a-tack-hammer-to-the-forehead rhythm/bass line incursions. And it's packaged pretty in all that melody as tracks like "Crow (Fear The Night)" unfold. Street level nasty riffs and a couple of "fuck this guy is good" solos make this one like something you could almost fuck to. Just kidding… But not really.

Just past the midway point we get to the oozing-with-Cali "The Last Blade". Haunt or Night Demon anyone? One for the open road here and for the epiphany that less is generally always more in the soloing department. It's in how well the solo fits the song and whether or not it enriches the experience or if it just distracts you from it, and not much at all about trying to sound like Dave Mustaine. Man, a place for every band member and every band member in his place. What discipline and what wisdom in action. Take notes, kids. This is how you shake shit up. A proper epic in "Winds Of Sokar" to culminate our run. Another triumph! Nothing too fancy, just smooth as silk and bordering on balladry type of aesthetics.

This is one of those promos that really makes it a treat to be able to listen to records before people like you get to. I'll be listening to this one repeatedly even before it comes out. I'm only bragging because it's that good. The aforementioned guitarist, Scott Hoffman, just runs away with this one and it's not even fair. A guitar-driven blackened heavy fucking metal band is Nite, and I struggle to think of a more adept axeman outside of maybe Dave Davidson (Revocation). But as I mentioned before, Scott just has something that most guitarists do not - an uncanny ear for melody and the natural ability to formulate that understanding into music that gives you goosebumps, like what you'll hear during the entirety of Cult Of The Serpent Sun here.

Heavy as sagging balls and blackened to perfection heavy fucking metal? Yes, please… And check 'em out in the photo - no gimmicks or overtly cheesy nostalgia - just four dudes who look like they own the Nite… Pun intended! Nite is no gimmick either. It's catching on. Deströyer 666 released their most recent record a few years ago in "Never Surrender" - a blackened heavy metal opus. Dare I say that Nite's more MODERN approach is actually a bit more invigorating. You'd be a fool like the guy from Invisible Oranges to confine Nite and their style to one silly decade. Cult Of The Serpent Sun? Don't miss it. This is why we listen to metal…

Rating: 10 out of 10