Album Review: The Noctambulant – Advocatus Diaboli (Domestic Genocide Records)

Floridan melodic death/black metal band, The Noctambulant released their debut album, Advocatus Diaboli on August 26th 2016 via Domestic Genocide Records.

10 tracks of furious sounding metal blending melody with hard riffs, huge sounding drums & blackened vocals. The albums production is excellent, something that is instantly clear on opening song Legion. Fast paced with some absolutely rocking riffs & some memorable guttural vocal moments.

It’s a strong start that really gets the blood pumping, something that Dreams of Rotten Silence & Take What I Want just increases. The albums style draws on different parts of the metal sound, black, death & thrash. Of the two songs, the latter in particular, ups the groove with a thumping drum beat & the best melody of the album so far.

There really isn’t a low moment on the entire album, it’s devilish in its speed & aggression. Creeping Dead, Death’s Lullaby, Goddess & Blood for Fire are filled with catchy hooks & great head-banging moments.

Any concern that The Noctambulant don’t have much else in the bag is forgotten with the excellent, Evil Calling (With Prelude) offering something a bit different. It’s 8 minutes long with a nice haunting tune & simple drum beat that leads into some stunning guitar wailing. When it does get going it moves at a slower pace but with a real dark & heavy sound.

The best song on the album by some distance.

Advocatus Diaboli finishes up with the double combo of Accept or Burn & Winter’s Hell Dominion. Two different songs offering contrasting styles. The former is hard & fast, similar to the metal sound heard so far, while the latter offers memorable tempo changes. A slow start, it’s moody & beat-driven before kicking things up a notch with a sudden burst of speed metal before dropping back into a really great slow guitar lead melody.

It’s a great end to an album that is solid as hell. Advocatus Diaboli is a great melodic metal album that gets better as it goes on. Evil Calling (With Prelude) & Winter’s Hell Dominion are the standout tracks, very memorable & very exciting.

The Noctambulant – Advocatus Diaboli Full Track Listing:

1. Legion
2. Dreams of Rotten Silence
3. Take What I Want
4. Creeping Dead
5. Death’s Lullaby
6. Evil Calling (With Prelude)
7. Goddess
8. Blood For Life
9. Accept or Burn
10. Winter’s Hell Dominion

You can pick up Advocatus Diaboli via The Noctambulant’s website here & listen to it via Apple Music below. The band can also be found over on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. You can listen to some of the music on ReverbNation, Soundcloud & YouTube.