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Nocturnal Rites > Lost in Time: The Early Years of Nocturnal Rites > Reviews
Nocturnal Rites - Lost in Time: The Early Years of Nocturnal Rites

Nocturnal Rites goes Viking Folk. - 91%

hells_unicorn, September 24th, 2006

This album is pretty much a compilation of the first two full length releases by Swedish Power/Speed Metal outfit Nocturnal Rites. The original versions of these albums are becoming quite rare, particularly the debut because of how old it is and the fact that it did not initially sell very well, although hopefully this release will make all current fans aware that Nocturnal Rites has had a rich history of excellent music going all the way back to 1995.

I was actually able to procure both of these albums in their original form from a second hand vendor in Japan and plan to pen reviews for each of them separate from this review, which is geared mostly towards the extra tracks on this particular release. If you are interested in owning this compilation, it would be recommended that you read the reviews of those albums by both myself and the other reviewers to get a clear picture of what your in for.

The highlight of this album is the amazing demo version of "Lay of Ennui" from the "In a time of Blood and Fire" release. What is amazing is that the vocal work and the instruments all have a great deal of power, to the point of almost challenging the stature of the studio version of it, which by the way, is the best song on the album itself. Anders Zackrisson is often overshadowed by current vocalist Jonny Lindqvist, but his work is at least equal in quality and power, though not quite as rough and throaty sounding.

The "Living for Today" demo is a track that is also extremely strong considering that it is self-produced, and an essential as it never made it onto any of their LPs. Anders is in good form, as is Nils Norberg's lead work. For a demo, this rivals the work of DragonForce's original demo release in terms of overall quality.

The acoustic renditions of the title track and "Winds of Death" off the first album are a change of style, and done masterfully well. Jonny Lindqvist has a very versatile voice, one that isn't on display much as NR's studio work mostly calls for a rough sounding, high end vocal performance. He pulls off a clean sound very well, and functions just as strong in the lower end of his range. The piano rendition of the guitar riffs on "In a Time of Blood and Fire" is quite charming, but I prefer the driving acoustic guitar line of "Winds of Death". You can actually visualize the scene of Vikings on a dragon boat amongst a sea covered with ice bergs, searching for new plunder and adventures.

For fans of current NR work, this music is not as heavy or aggresive as their newer work, and Anders' voice is quite a change of pace. However, it's a good blend of NWOBHM style riffs and Viking storytelling, and it has the same melodic quality that still defines the NR sound. Highly recommended to all fans of Power Metal and Traditional Metal.