NITE
NITE “Cult of the Serpent Sun”
By Dr. Abner Mality
NITE raised some eyebrows with their last record “Voices of the Kronian Moon”, including the Good Doctor’s. Their take on classic heavy metal with harsh blackened vocals was a rather unique one and “unique” is an almost non-existent word in today’s metal scene. They get some points for that alone.
Now we have “Cult of the Serpent Sun” and it picks up where the previous effort left off. The NWOBHM guitar riffing is still very prominent and Van Labrakis’ ghoulish crispy vocals still give proceedings a blackish hue. It’s a sound that grips you right away if you’re into it. If the band has made any shift, they’ve gotten moodier and started to put even a 70’s hard prog feel into some tracks. The guitar melodies are sad and melodic yet have an undercurrent of menace even beyond what Labrakis’ vocals inject. Fans of newer traditional metal bands like HAUNT and HIGH SPIRITS will enjoy tracks like “The Last Blade”, “Crow” (Fear The Night) and the title track.
Where I feel this gets let down is the ending. Last two cuts “Tamul” and “Winds of Sokar” are the most laid back and proggy that NITE has ever done. This album should have injected some more of that black metal fire and energy into things. That’s not saying they should go whole hog on tremolo riffs and blast beats, but I just don’t feel these tracks are the best landing for NITE.
“Cult of the Serpent Sun” remains a good effort from these guys, but it’s not quite the blowout record I was expecting. They have it in them to level up.