Nocturnal Rites – The 8th Sin

Year Of Release – 2007
Label – Century Media

I have to say right at the start that I know absolutely nothing about Nocturnal Rites. This is the first album by them that I’m hearing and I wouldn’t have heard this either if I hadn’t mistaken them for another band called Ancient Rites. So there, now that’s out of the way, what’s Nocturnal Rites about ?

The band play a brand of power metal that’s so happy and sweet that you run the risk of contracting diabetes if you listen to this album too much.

The music has very little crunch and the band concentrate mostly on big choruses that sound like your typical eighties hard rock ala Bon Jovi and Whitesnake and Europe. The Whitesnake influence crops up throughout the album. Vocalist Johnny Lindquist is a pretty good vocalist but this music is so melodic AOR that there’s very little for him to do.

The album starts with the Europe like “Call Out To The World,” which sets the blueprint for the rest of the album. The songs that follow stick to pretty much the same formula. One chugging riff, lots of dual melodic guitar, and the soaring chorus. This is generic sickly sweet hard rock. Honestly, this album has almost no “metal” moments.

The obligatory ballad makes its appearance at the end of the album and the song “Me” is truly cringe worthy.

All in all, Nocturnal Rites play generic, wimpy power metal that’s been done before and done much better.