In 2021, the Greek / Swedish melodic death metal stars Nightrage return with the final part in their trilogy of albums (The Venomous, Wolf to Man) and now complete with their upcoming album, Abyss Rising. An album that is the band's vision of mankind living in its own hell - a hell it has created through the destruction of the planet. 

Inspired in part by Dante's Inferno, the album explores man’s continual destruction of the world we live in until the abyss opens up to consume all before it. The abyss has risen from the depths, and hell has now turned outside in to be able to rise to earth to claim us. The album captures Nightrage in a spectacular form; incisive, brutal, uncompromising, and unforgettable. Musically, the band have embraced a harder, faster, and brutal approach, still rich in melodic intent but characteristically heavy and aggressive. 

Mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordstrom at Studio Fredman (Architects, In Flames, Opeth) Abyss Rising is a formidable sonic masterpiece. 

Marios and Dino about the new lyric video:

Marios: "Mine and Magnus' guitar musical chemistry is really obvious here once again, blending a lot of different ideas that comes always from jam sessions, and focused on melody and hooks. We love to mix all these elements and add a lot of drama creating an amalgam of hooky riffs, brutal vocals, guitar harmonies and melodies into our songs, and 'Swallow Me' once again is a great example of that! Ronnie talks this time about how our society have lost control and let religion guide us into false beliefs. This song is about religion. How we humans create a false belief in false gods to hide our own evil deeds behind. And religion is like a virus in our minds and in our society that grows bigger and bigger out of our own control."

Dino: "Well, If anyone asked a Nightrage fan to describe the band with one single word, I am sure he would answer 'melody.' The same word describes 'Swallow Me'. Melodies blended with heavy metal riffs and strong death metal elements. It was really fun to record this song, as it's obviously based on groovy parts and old-school heavy riffing. If you notice, my drum-parts have a really strong bonding with the rhythm guitars and bass. That, of course, was made in purpose, as I feel that with more simplicity on the drums, I am giving more space for the melodies to shine, as it was meant to be."

Nightrage was founded by Marios Iliopoulos and his close friend Gus G. in 2000. After putting together demos in 2001 and 2002, they finally released their first full album, Sweet Vengeance', in 2003. It featured drummer Per Möller Jensen (The Haunted), and bassist Brice Leclercq. They also managed to acquire the services of legendary vocalist Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates) and Tom S. Englund of Evergrey fame.

Their second release, Descent Into Chaos, followed in 2005 and featured a more permanent rhythm section in the shape of Fotis Benardo (Septic Flesh, ex-Innerwish) and Henric Carlsson. With Gus G.’s role performing with Arch Enemy taking more and more of the talented guitarists time, Nightrage looked to a number of tour replacements to cover for him until Gus made the decision to permanently leave Nightrage and focus completely on Firewind (before landing the coveted guitar spot in Ozzy Osbourne’s band).

Nightrage’s third album, A New Disease Is Born, was released in 2007. Gus G. was replaced by Dragonland/Amaranthe guitarist Olof Mörck. In keeping with the band’s revolving door of members, 2007 also saw Antony Hämäläinen, bassist Anders Hammer, and drummer Johan Nunez (Firewind, Kamelot) join the band in the summer of 2007.

Their fourth album, Wearing A Martyr's Crown, was recorded, produced, and mixed by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman. Several tracks from the album, namely, "A Grim Struggle", "Collision Of Fate", "Shed The Blood", and "Wearing A Martyr's Crown" were made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series on Xbox. In 2011, "A Grim Struggle" was made available for download on the PlayStation 3 console.

2011’s Insidious once again featured Tomas Lindberg and Tom Englund on vocals, along with guest appearances from Gus G, Apollo Papathanasio (Firewind, Spiritual Beggars) and John K. The band supported the new album on a tour of North America, joining Firewind and Arsis, titled Frets Of Fury.

In 2013, Antony Hämäläinen and Johan Nunez officially left the band to pursue other musical ventures. Ronnie Nyman was recruited to replace Hämäläinen on vocals. With Nyman, the band released their sixth studio album, The Puritan, in 2015.

2017 saw the release of album number seven, The Venomous. With yet more changes in the band, Magnus Söderman (guitars) and Lawrence Dinamarca (drums) completing the lineup. 2019’s Wolf To Man featured another shift in personnel with a new rhythm section arriving featuring bassist Francisco Escalona and drummer Dino George Stamoglou, but the core of the band stayed the same.

Now, in 2021, Nightrage is back with their tenth album Abyss Rising - it's incisive, it's brutal, it's uncompromising and unforgettable.

(Photo - Evelina Szczesik / Ever Vision Art)