| CD REVIEW Nightlord |
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Band : Nightlord The first chapter in the story of this Oldschool Thrash Metal act starts in the year 1987, when the 4 protagonists of our tale first gather together from their respective sides of the British isle and meet each other at that London's famous Metal Temple, the Hammersmith Odeon. Strong friendships are forged between the musically like-minded foursome, and plans are made to start a band together, with Jamie Thorne taking on lead vocal and bass duties, James McKenzie and Ferenc Collins handling the guitars, and Neil Wiseman sitting behind the drum kit. Following an introductory period (filled most probably with some of the foursome saving money to buy their instruments...and then learning to play 'em), the band members finally converge to the Middlesex town of Hanford in May 1989 for their first rehearsals...playing their debut gig on December 6 that same year. In the following 6 months the band plays other towns, gaining a small fanbase along the way, and in August 1990 the band retreats into Heatham House Studios, where Collins himself (possibly the “studio” was his own home recording facility) records and produces a total of 8 songs...4 of which (“Reign”, “Vote For Me”, “Power Of Hate”, and “Holy Inquisition”) the band put out on their one and only demo-tape Approaching Thunder, released in October. From the get-go, the guys had their minds set on playing the big London venues, but they well understood that as a beginning band they had little chance to passthose places' doorsteps as headlining act. However, in September 1990 they had the opportunity to play support for Decimate at the Marquee. Additional important support slots lay awaiting, and a month later (coinciding with the demo's release) the band supported Extreme Noise Terror at Tufnell Park, an event which was favourably reviewed by leading magazine Kerrang!, thus effectively spreading the young band's name all over the UK (and beyond, because even then the magazine had faithful readers abroad). The band now felt ready for bigger things, and they contact Artillery and Holy Moses to do a small UK tour, organized by themselves. For unclear reasons (sorry guys, I was unable to translate that part of the imaginative story posted at your MySpace page into normal language) the tour fell through, and in stead the band had to make due with a couple of individual shows...after which a short period of inactivity ensued. In March 1992 Nightlord returns to the live circuit for a tour with Toranaga, which however did not go through London (still the band's aim). Shows with Krozus (from Brazil), Cerebral Fix, Nocturnus and Confessor followed in May, as well as a short tour with Paradise Lost and Skyclad. Also in May, the band revisits Heatham House Studios to record the track “Practice Makes Perfect”, which was released later that same year on a 4-way split 7-inch EP. Following a gig with the band Gomorrah, Collins and Gomorrah's Jose Griffin (now of Copro Records) contact the bands The Reign, Incarcerated, and Decomposed, to participate in The Underground Titans Tour, which ran through 1992's summer, and is to this day still hailed as the first real Underground Metal tour. At the end of the tour the band also played London. In the year to come Nightlord would continue to play gigs wherever wanted in the UK...and in April of 1993 the band again retreated into Heatham House Studios to record drums and rhythm guitar to 4 new songs. Something must've given then, because the demo wasn't finished, and April 1993 stands as the end of the first chapter in the band's history. In early 2010, the guys find each other again, and start talking about doin' one last show in December to commemorate the 21st anniversary of their very first gig...but until the guys actually started rehearsing (mid September) it was all just talk. Having found out that some music fans were paying high prices of copies of copies of their demo, the band decided to unearth their old recordings, and got in contact with Copro Records about a re-issue of the material of their first recordings (all 8 tracks) on CD. One week later than that first rehearsal however, the band confirmed (through their MySpace page) that their one-off reformation event would in fact take place on December 12 at Camden Underworld, and other Oldschool bands performing would be Crowning Glory, Inner Eden, and Fracture Pattern (all of 'em “new” bands with old faces). In the same confirmation they announced that they would also complete their 1993 recordings for a simultaneous release with the full-length Approaching Thunder. I cannot say I was overly enthoused when hearing the Approaching Thunder album. The original recordings were most probably done with amateurish recording devices, and Collins may not have been quite the expert he thought himself to be. Not even the remastering efforts done during November of last by the revered Nick Hemingway at Copro's own Philia Studios were enough to enhance some of the old recordings to an acceptable standard, although the non-demo tracks seem to have a better sound quality overall. More than sound quality, what bugged me was the somewhat bland way in which Thorne performed his vocal duties. Not a fantastic singer to begin with, he also chose for a somewhat lame style...but as a bassist he definitely ruled! The guitars were mixed somewhat awkwardly as well, with the two only clearly separable when the lead guitarist went about doin' his thing. In essence, the Approaching Thunder is a must-have for the fanatics, the die-hard Thrash Metal “freaks” and record collectors among us (read on to know why I'm giving the album that status in spite of my initial assessment). That attitude is changed upon us with the second release, Cult Of the Moon. With a now far more secure singer, and far better recording equipment to finish the recordings (engineered & produced by Collins at Firestead Studios in Oct. 2010), the tracks (“Dark Night Dance”, “Twisted Out Of Mind”, “What Have I Done”, and “Cult Of The Moon”) have a fuller body to begin with. In their short existence, the guys also apparently grew as songwriters and performers. Well, the bassist was great to begin with (I would even go as far as to credit him with some Steve Harris references), but the drummer definitely grew, and the guitarists allowed for more lead play in the whole as well. Of course, one might argue that there's 18 years between the time when those 4 tracks were written, and the time that they were finally recorded properly...but hey, you know, Cult Of The Moon also contains the song the band recorded in 1992 for that 4-way 7-inch, and we can definitely hear similarities with the singer having found “his voice” and the guitarists giving each other the proper leeway with nicely interwoven lead and solo parts on top of the rhythms, and an improved play by the rhythm guitarist, whom now contributes to the twin leads as well. On top, the band added a selection of 6 songs recorded during the band's performance at the Royal Standard at Walthamstow in March 1992, and in spite of some wanky sound quality at the beginning (the event was probably recorded on old-fashioned tape, and possibly the beginning of the tape got stuck in the cassette deck, leading to the damaging of the tape and sound...whatever), we can hear several positive things. For one, the singer was apparently already more secure about his voice. Secondly, the two songs off the Cult Of The Moon sessions already played live (Twisted Out Of Mind” and “What Have I Done”) definitely show the same progress as mentioned earlier. Thirdly, we can hear that Approaching Thunder songs (the ones played were “Reign”, “The Final Book”, and “Holy Inquisition”) were not that bad after all. With improved vocals, and away from the controlled environment of the studio (where a slightly wrong gesture can make huge mistakes), these songs díd have a nice impact after all...and it would be safe to say that the best environment to enjoy the Nightlord was in live conditions! Until now, that is, because with the improved studio recordings on Cult Of The Moon even the modern day Thrash fan with be content! At (www.) myspace.com/nightlorduk, you can listen not only to the 4 tracks off the original Approaching Thunder demo (I'm sure these are the versions as manipulated by Hemingway?), but also to 3 songs off Cult Of The Moon (one the live version of “Twisted Out Of Mind”), so have a ball...take a listen...and then decide for yourselves whether you wanna add a piece of UK's Thrash Metal history to your collection. Me, I'm the collecting type of music freak, have a special agreement with my editor-in-chief acout all things Copro, and am therefore one happy camper at this moment! Because...with no further live activities announced, it sure looks like the second chapter in this band's story is also the closing one. Only óne thing could make me happier, and that's for someone to convince the guys that they have good reasons for reforming properly and take a new lease on a second life as a band. For honesty's sake, I'm giving separate ratings (the first being for Approaching Thunder, evidently). 78 + 90/200 Tony. |