Album Review: Nightrage – Insidious (Lifeforce Records)

Insidious is the fifth album by melodic death metal band Nightrage and was released in September 2011 through Lifeforce Records. Interestingly, it is also the first Nightrage album to feature the same band line up as on their previous album but is littered with guests which include almost every previous member of Nightrage like At the Gates’ Tomas Lindberg and other metal stalwarts such as Firewind’s Apollo Papathanasio.

The album consists of 15 relatively short tracks totalling only just over 53 mins in length although that does include a short instrumental intro, outro and a prelude. On some editions of the album there was also a cover of Def Leppard track Photograph as a bonus track.

The album gets underway with the intro which is called So Far Away and is just under 80 seconds long. It is a really serene, intriguing instrumental, rising in volume before a sudden stop. Delirium of the Fallen follows next and hits hard with fast, technical drumming, raspy lyrics and some seriously talented guitar work. The speed continues into the title track which follows next again mixing perfectly emotional melodies with aggressive drums and riffs ending with a peaceful acoustic melody. This pattern continues through with tracks like Hate Turns Black, Cloaked in Wolfs Skin and Utmost End of Pain really hitting home with technical prowess and aggression.

This World is Coming to an End, Poignant Memories, Wrapped in Deceitful Dreams and Sham Piety add a bit of groove and rhythm to the aggressive mix while tracks like Poisoned Pawn and Hush of Night are probably more filler tracks for the album, they are well worthy of a listen and are well executed and enjoyable.

There is a 35 second long orchestral interlude which is nice enough but feels a little out of place before the last and longest track, Solar Corona starts. It has a more progressive feel to it but is a real feast of technical and emotional guitar skills with great vocals.

The alum ends with a short outro, similar in serenity to the intro and gave me a minute of peace where I could curse myself for not finding this album in my collection back when it released.

This album is, in my opinion, a masterpiece which showcases melodic metal at its finest. Truly epic guitar skills, well executed bass lines, masterful drumming and vocals that fit perfectly into each song make this album the next one about to become most played by me in any playlist I own.

If you like metal then you like guitars, if you like guitars then you absolutely must check this album out.