Review by Dave Wolff
Rating: *****
(Metal Blade)
In the early 1990s vocalist Efthimis Karadimas formed Nightfall with an idea of pushing boundaries both musically and lyrically, gearing the lyrics toward a poetic license intended to be as vivid an illustration for the song as the musical backdrop. Naming the band Nightfall seems to have been a way to foreshadow these elements in their music for the unsuspecting listener. Before releasing Astron Black And The Thirty Tyrants in August of 2010, Karadimas and Nightfall released seven full lengths from 1992 to 2005. The point of interest is musicians from an eclectic range of backgrounds who were involved with Karadimas and Nightfall to release I Am Jesus in 2003 and Lyssa: Rural Gods and Astonishing Punishments in 2005 (on independent label Black Lotus Records). The musicians appearing on those albums included guitarist George Bokos (Rotting Christ) and drummer George Kollias ( Nile ). As Astron Black… is the first I am hearing from Nightfall I can’t present an objective viewpoint on their previous releases; however there is much to be said about how the most recent lineup (consisting of guitarist Evan Hensley, keyboardist Stathis Kassios and drummer Jörg Uken) functions to cohesively present this album. At first listen it might not sound like anything special – simply typical melodic death metal in the vein of Hypocrisy and Amon Amarth – but during the course of things the range and aesthetic depth of the album begins to dawn on you. Provided shades of power metal by the guitar solos and black metal by the keyboards, Astron Black… combines these elements with more than a few subtle themes to create a feeling of entering a setting vast enough to resonate on an operatic level that must be experienced firsthand to be fully understood. For information about Nightfall and their current activities visit metalblade.com or myspace.com/nightfallgr.