Thunderbeast

Many comparisons have been made between Night in Gales and In Flames, even by tagging the band as an “In Flames clone”, this can’t be applied to the vocals as Night in Gales has raspy vocals ala At the Gates, however I can´t help noticing that “Thunderbeast” has plenty of details that the average melodeath fan wouldn’t find interesting. Take in consideration that “Thunderbeast”: 1) sounds slower than bands like At the Gates or Dark Tranquillity and even In Flames; 2) There’s an overuse of harmonized twin guitar riffs (Maiden style), they exaggerated this kind guitarwork even for a melodic death metal band; 3) the songs are just not catchy enough to be compared to popular melodic death metal bands; 4) If the details listed above were negative, it’s also disappointing the lack of innovation, they didn’t only bring anything new to the style but also didn’t bring nothing new to their own songs, for most songs of the album are extremely similar.

So don´t be fooled by the album’s title, “Thunderbeast” ain’t about tough music, as I explained, even the popular melodic death metal bands happen to be faster, catchier and more interesting. Personally, as a melodic death metal fan, I found the album boring as hell, with the exception of the 10th track “The Dustcrown”, whose chorus can easily get stuck in your head, a catchy chorus is an important element that the other songs don’t have and has been key in the success of melodic death metal gods. All these negative details could’ve contributed to Night in Gales decision of eventually changing direction musically.

I must confess that I came to metal quite late - I was 15 or 16 by then. And well... "Thunderbeast" was one of the first extreme metal albums I ever bought.

Night In Gales have always been said to be so much Gothenburg - I'm sorry, but I can't agree. Yes, they play melodic death metal, and yes, they do have twin-guitar-riffs. But still, their kind of melodies and harmonies, as shown on "Thunderbeast" and also on its predecessor "Towards The Twilight", is unique.

So here we have an album which I still consider one of the best albums in my collection. It might not be innovative, but the band has its very own style, and, most important: Night In Gales fucking rock! Even the sound of this album ... well, it might not be perfect kind of trigger-it-all soulless production, but it perfectly matches the music and the concept of the "Thunderbeast" with its stormlike guitar-sound and that apocalyptic voice of Björn; it's just atmospheric.

If I can say anything negative about this album, then it is that the songs are partly quite similar. But to be honest, that never disturbed me - I always listened to the complete album from start to end and I always loved it and love it still!