Out of Thessaloniki, Greece is a band that is sure to take rise in the death metal world. That band is known as Nightrage. Nightrage has recently released their latest album entitled “The Venomous” via Despotz Records.
Nightrage is composed of Marios Iliopoulos on guitars, Anders Hammer on bass, Ronnie Nyman on vocals, Magnus Soderman on guitars, and Lawrence Dinamarca on drums. In “The Venomous”, they have taken the Greek mythology story of Marchosias and applied it to this album.
Long story short about Marchosias, she is a demon that is ultimately the goddess of humanity’s demise. People blindly follow the vanity, the envy, the hatred, and everything else that is cancerous to humanity and to the world, and therefore, Marchosias curses humanity causing humanity as a whole to demise. Nightrage has shared the stage with the likes of The Haunted and Arch Enemy, and have toured across Europe with the likes of Firewind and Arsis, and have also drawn well in Japan, playing two sold-out concerts in Japan. This is not bad for a band that is on their second full-length album, which is the followup to “The Puritan” from 2015.
“The Venomous” definitely takes no prisoners with the opener, which is the title track. Ronnie definitely has a vocal prowess that is well enough to cause people to sing(or scream) along to his songs, and the rhythm section will take the slumbering ones out of their catatonic state and the guitars are interwoven nicely. “In Abhorrence” is definitely a standout moment in this record. From a lyrical standpoint, “In Abhorrence” is talking about what we do to each other as a human race and that we need to quit allowing the powers-that-be to divide us and we need to turn our anger and frustration towards the powers-that-be instead of each other. “Affliction” showcases melodic power guitar work within the death metal realm that Nightrage definitely belongs to. “Catharsis” showcases some exceptional guitar work that is sorely needed in the death metal genre. In these songs, the tempo changes are smooth and the rhythm section pulsates throughout the record.
It amazes me because of geographical location that Nightrage falls under the radar where they belong in the same league as the elites in the death metal world. The lyrical content is authentic as they have taken their own culture and own heritage and made it universally applicable to the rest of the world outside of Greece. The arrangements are quite classically influenced as the songs and arrangements tell the story of the goddess of demise in this record. Kudos for Nightrage for allowing us to experience their culture and heritage in a really cool and positive way. Nightrage reminds us that we need to do better as members of this thing called humanity. Overall, “The Venomous” by Nightrage gets a 4/5 star rating!
Check out the track listing to “The Venomous” by Nightrage below!
- “The Venomous”
- “Metamorphosis Day of Wrath”
- “In Abhorrence”
- “Affliction”
- “Catharsis”
- “Bemoan”
- “The Blood”
- “From Ashes Into Stone”
- “Trail Of Ghosts”
- “Disturbia”
- “Desolation And Dismay”
- “Denial Of The Soul” (instrumental)
Check out the music video to “Affliction” by Nightrage below!
Fans can find Nightrage at the following locations:
www.instagram.com/nightrageofficial
