Album Review: Noctum – Final Sacrifice

Noctum – Final Sacrifice
Release Date:
Highlights: The whole album

Add Noctum to that ever growing list of bands that people say, “Hey man, you’re gonna love this band.” Well, as we’ve learned, this is always a hit or miss but with Noctum, this shit was a hit right out of the park. The droning, Iron Maidenesque riff of “Conflagration” emerged from my speakers and as I nodded my head with approve, the song took a whole 360 turn into murky Black Sabbath waters sounding like something I could’ve heard on “Master of Reality.” My nod turned into a big “fuck yeah” (which I did say out loud) as I pounded my fist on my desk. As the next song, “Liberty in Death” kicked in, I felt as if flood gates opened and I was hit with this pounding wave of sheer, 70’s inspired, psychedelic doom metal awesomeness.

It should be no surprise that Noctum hails from Sweden since it seems that all of my latest favorite bands such as Graveyard, Witchcraft, and Blues Pills are from there. What I love so much about Noctum is that they are bringing something a bit different to the table. Whereas Graveyard and Witchcraft teetered on the more Sabbath side of the spectrum and Blues Pills on the more rootsy 60’s style of things, Noctum embodies a lot of that classic NWOBHM spirit and when I mean, NWOBHM I mean more like that early Judas Priest mixed with DiAnno era Iron Maiden with touch of Angel Witch and Diamond Head in there for flavor. Hell, on “Temple of the Living Dead” these guys were channeling some Merciful Fate/King Diamond which was melting my damn face clean off.  These guys are all over the map without sounding scattered. Matter of fact, It blows my fucking mind that Noctoum has found a way to take so many diverse styles of classic metal and combine them to a very cohesive sound that sounds unique yet very old school. It’s hard to believe these guys haven’t been out more than five years.

When one listens to this kind of 70’s inspired, psychedelic hard rock they might think that it sounds quite simplistic. In all honesty, this kind of music is really easy to fuck up. If not done right, you can come off sounding like a bad clone (Orchid) but if it’s done right, you end up with an a sound and an album like the one Noctum’s put out. It’s really impossible for me to really pick any particular songs to start showcasing because in all honesty, each song is as stellar as the last one. Noctum is a band that I will be keeping a close eye on as I feel like with Final Sacrifice they really delivered a grade A chunk of rifftastic, classic metal. As a whole, Final Sacrifice is probably one of the coolest fucking records I’ve laid my ears on all year. This one literally came out of nowhere and instantly became what I think will be one of the best releases of 2013.

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