Nocturnal Breed, a Black/Thrash Metal band from Norway have come up with really good releases in the past, efficiently combining Black and Speed/Thrash Metal to give their music a harsh, yet catchy and groovy sound. Fields of Rot, the band's 2007 album, is no different. Despite their ability to compose extremely memorable songs one can keep coming back to, Nocturnal Breed never got the attention they deserve.
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| To cut the review short, just try describing this album cover |
Fields of Rot is the band's best effort so far. The album starts off with Wicked, Vicious and Violent and you know it is not the typical Desaster and Deströyer 666-style Black/Thrash, but rather old school Speed/Thrash with only a few Black Metal elements. The intensity of the vocalist and relentless Thrash drumming is continued through the album, but the band throws in variations everywhere. While Fields of Rot and Code of Conduct are straight-forward Thrash Metal songs with a great Black Metal vibe, In Sickness and In Hell has a groovy and catchy chorus, a memorable line in the first 1 and half minutes which says "When you fucked with us, and army was born", and a very simple yet memorable guitar solo. The riffs are intricate and the band carefully avoids single-note riffs or simple chords wherever possible, and yet, in each song make sure you have your head swaying and banging to them. A very good example of this would be the album opener and songs like Too Damned To Conquer and Scything Harrow. The vocals take some time to get into, as they're high-pitched, yet neither screamed, nor screeched or rasped nor sung. They're somewhere in between. The vocalist changes his style midway through certain songs and speaks in either a rather-evil voice or imitates Lemmy. Lemmy imitation is particularly notable in Iron Bitch, which is a Motörhead-worship song, with Motörhead written all over the riffs, vocals bass, and the overall song-writing. It is easy to mistake it for a cover. While most songs on the album have a traditional Speed/Thrash Metal approach, they maintain a dark, blackened sound, especially songs like Code of Conduct and Scything Harrow, trading the "fun" sound with a darker, more sinister sound.
The album, though short, is long enough to keep one entertained and sprain someone's neck due to furious headbanging induced by each track. Every track is a standout here with no specific weak point. The riffs and vocals make this release highly memorable, but the drums and bassline is not particularly notable and follow a standard formula seen in every Thrash record, which is the only shortcoming of this album.
Highly recommended for Black/Thrash or Speed/Thrash metal fans
9 out of 10.
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