Pandemonic Requiem

Noctes play a mid-to-fast paced blend of Gothenburg and melodic black metal, with dual rhythm guitars and very prominent keyboards. Pandemonic Requiem exhibits a wealth of creativity in composition; the song structures are complex with unexpected twists of direction, and tempos and arrangements that shift frequently and fluidly. The execution of the music, on the other hand, particularly the guitar work, is undeniably sloppy; a flaw not even the thick layers of reverb applied in mixdown could conceal.

Songs also occasionally feature melodies underpinned by synth pads looping over an elementary three-chord sequence, and the synthesizer is unfortunately placed so prominently in the mix that the more complex parts played by the other instruments can't quite command the listener's attention; the focus is held captive by the least interesting constituent of the composition.

This album still manages to conjure up an engaging melody now and then, but the outstanding moments are too few, and the shortcomings in musicianship and engineering too great for this artwork to achieve the effect its authors had envisioned.

On ''Pandemonic Requiem'' Noctes plays on of the best Melodical Black/Death Metal I have ever heard. The two guitarists play different riffs from each other almost all the time in order to create great melodies and sound diversity. Check out track ''Attila'' and you will see what I mean. Vocals are just great and of the best in the Swedish scene. Both Black Metal-like screams and Death Metal-like growls work out perfectly. Don't expect hyper violent growls, Noctes vocalist manages to use his great voice without making a great fuss. this means he fits perfectly within the Melodic Black/Death genre. Drums are good, they fill perfectly the sound and they never become boring. Keyboard-based tracks like ''Winterdawn'' and ''Outro'' are just great and create a really nice atmosphere. We can listen to keyboards again on other tracks, just to create a good ambient. They fit perfectly too.
Bassist Asa does what she's meant to do and I have no complains about that.
Of course this band has its Dissection influences (as most of the Melodic Black/Death Metal bands around Sweden) but this does not mean that they are a clone. Not at all. Noctes have their own style and they play it very well. Too bad they're gone now...