Nocturnal Rites - Phoenix Review
Well, I have to say I'm disappointed by this album. Probably the biggest problem for me is that the mixing sounds like a tube sausage. Ninety percent of this album is just a wall of noise with super rich guitar and bass sound, some background synth, and a string orchestra. Orden Ogan's Gunmen was guilty of the same thing. Interestingly, both bands released their new albums through AFM Records, so the super-compressed non-stop wall of noise could be something that's being encouraged by AFM. That type of mixing is fine for listening to one or two songs (basically radio music), but when you try to listen to the full album, you end up with ear fatigue. Also, almost all the songs seem cookie-cutter, following the same pattern, and the lyrics aren't anything special. I was looking forward to Phoenix because I've really liked Nocturnal Rite's other albums, but this seems like a step backwards to me.
My Rating: 6 out of 10
Highlights:
Tasteful solos
Some nice riffs
Awesome vocals (Jonny Lindqvist killed it!)
Lowlights:
Tube sausage mixing
Cookie-cutter riffs and song structures throughout the album (most of the songs sounded similar to each other)
Fairly boring lyrics
Almost no style/songwriting diversity
Favorite Songs:
The Ghost Inside Me
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