NITE “Voices of the Kronian Moon”
By Dr. Abner Mality
NITE is a rather blasé name for a band that is actually a pretty wild melange of sounds and influences. I can hear a ton of different bands here, but the one thing that makes NITE stand out is the unearthly vocal tone of singer/guitarist Van Labrakis, who is also in SATAN’S WRATH. I guarantee once you hear him, you won’t forget it. Half way between a croak and a whisper, Van’s sinister tones add a lot of menace to the otherwise melodic NITE compositions. Some may disagree, but I think he sounds cool as hell!
Outside of the unique blackened vocals, NITE reminds me a lot of bands like LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG and HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE. A swirling mixture of NWOBHM, THIN LIZZY, BLUE OYSTER CULT and early MAIDEN, with lots of galloping tempos, twin guitar melodies and classic metal lead work. I see one of NITE’s guitarists is Scott Hoffman from HIGH SPIRITS and yes, you can hear a HIGH SPIRITS vibe here as well. Despite the trollish vocals, there’s definitely a pop touch to some of the melodies, which is where BÖC and yes, GHOST, comes in. But keep in mind that NITE is a much more overtly metal band than either of those two entities.
What are the highlights here? I’m very much inclined towards opening track “Acheron”, which establishes Labrakis’ unique singing and is a great slice of traditional “dark metal”. The early part of the album follows this template straightly, but there’s more experimentation as the album goes on, with “Thorns” having a noticeably quirky and nervous feel to it. Last song “The Trident” is where the black metal influence becomes more pronounced but still incorporating classic metal tropes.
“Voices of the Kronian Moon” is a really interesting take on traditional heavy metal and announces that NITE is a band that does things just a bit differently.