BOMBER - “Nocturnal Creatures”

By Solomon G

The New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal

BOMBER’s “Nocturnal Creatures” kicks off with a kool kreepy intro by someone doing their best horror-host delivery, leads directly into a very 1980-radio-rock-friendly, “Zarathustra” - that is if they had today’s cut and paste sequencers and AI pitch modulators or whatever [and I know I’m among the few who might say those are a detriment to any band].

Continuing on with the youthful high-energy stuff, “Fever Eyes” delivers a simplistic bop-ability, never quite daring to stray too far from the formula [that’s not a disparaging critique].

This next one, “A Walk Of The Titans” [Hearts Will Break], is gonna melt the hearts of romantic types everywhere. I see my 1980s-era girlfriend, DeeDee, bopping to this one while cradling the album in her arms. She was a sucker for that kind of stuff.

Continuing on with the mid-tempo-fest we have a the self-explanatory “Black Pants Magic”. Love the title. The track is okay.

Finally - a little bit of intricate guitar noodling for the intro to “The Tiger”, but don’t get your hopes up for too much more of that here. Minor chord guitars and soaring vocals make this the ‘anthem’ of the album.

Next: more melodrama with a Hollywood movie sample[?] this time, on a track named, “You’ve Got Demons”. The solo here is very reminiscent of early Matthias Jabs. Probably the tastiest guitars on the album to this point.

Followed by the heaviest track, “Hungry For Your Heart”, a tale of vampire love, and stuff…with guitars. Cool, interesting vocal chorus arrangement

Ooh! Bass leads, and MAIDEN worship: “Kassiopia” - I’ll take it! By far the standout track on this album. I can see why they saved it for later on in the album. Don’t wanna blow your load too soon, right? My only wish for this track is that it were longer. Maybe they do solos live with it in their show.

Wrapping things up here with comparatively mighty riffage on the closing track, “Aurora”, the band turn to dark imagery and extra heaviness - if only the whole album were as intense as the last few tracks!

I hope there’s a scene for these guys to fit into. They’re working hard at winning trad-metal fans everywhere. They’ve listened to all the classic albums. They know how to turn a riff. The drums could be stronger, but still fit in perfectly with what I think the band is attempting to do: very authentic 1980 heavy rock - but please ditch the sequencers, guys!

Recommended for fans of ZEBRA, AUTOGRAPH, VAN HALEN, SCORPIONS, QUIET RIOT, and/or MOTLEY CRÜE.

NAPALM RECORDS

BOMBER