NIGHTFALL - Cassiopeia
February 11, 2013, 11 years ago
(Metal Blade Record)
Greek six-headed beasts NIGHTFALL play epic, melodic death metal set to grandiose symphonic orchestrations on its ninth studio album, Cassiopeia. The band injects plenty of melody into the proceedings to compliment the precise and controlled harsh barks of vocalist Efthimis Karadimas, much like AMON AMARTH and fellow countrymen ROTTING CHRIST pull off. The melodic, dual guitar harmonies of Evan Hensley and Constantine drive the band’s sound, and there’s plenty of variation and tempo changes that differentiates each song. A twisted DANZIG riff mixed with blistering guitar leads and blast beats decorate “Oberon & Titania.” The bludgeoning double bass, blazing riffs and just the right amount of keyboard accents propel “Colonize Cultures.” Delving into a galloping death march, “The Sand Reckoner,” with its swirling guitar/keyboard leads gives off an evil, carnival-like black metal atmosphere. “Astropolis,” with its blistering double bass and rolling tom fills combined with over the top dual guitar leads brings an excellent close to the CD. This type of music has certainly been done many times before, but Nightfall sure has a good go at it on Cassiopeia.
