Exactly three years ago, Voices of the Kronian Moon was released by the San Francisco-based Nite. Although it wasn’t that special musically, the album somehow just wouldn’t let me go. The ingenious heavy metal of the four gentlemen is accompanied by the enchanting, rasping vocals of Vangelis Labrakis, which create an ominous, evil atmosphere around the heavy riffs. Just like a band like Tribulation does so effectively. And I like that very much! According to the band, the more pointed bangers like Acheron and Genesis got the best response live, so the emphasis on this new work Cult of the Serpent Sun is on compositions that stick to your brain. And Nite certainly succeeded!
Take the first three tracks for example. The grand, rousing riffs in the opening title track worm themselves almost immediately from your ears into your brain and the nicely loose, swinging drums of Patrick Crawford make it instantly difficult to sit still. The uptempo Skull then blasts like crazy with its fierce hard rock riffs and the anthem-like Crow (Fear the Night) is a song to die for. Musically the track sometimes has a bit of Savatage with a touch of Ghost in its early days. No, it never becomes super original of course, but Nite still seems to have found their ultimate own sound by forging all kinds of influences into something refreshing and new. And that is impressive! Even the slow, dragging, almost dramatically accentuated The Mystic fits perfectly and gives the neck muscles the rest they deserve. It also brings a bit of depth and versatility and the execution approaches perfection again. For me this is one of the highlights of the album.
And then the last two tracks have yet to begin and they are certainly not the least. Tarmut has an exciting build-up and an almost calming marching tempo and consists of multiple layers with clean guitars, creative bass lines, distorted vocals and brings the icing on the cake beautifully with Floydian-soloing. During the closing track Winds of Sokar the band goes back to the recognizable catchy riffs, twin guitar lines and increasing tempo’s.
Yes, Nite has definitely found its own, distinctive sound among (partly) similar bands like Cloak, Morgul Blade and Slaegt. With this Cult of the Serpent Sun they release their best album to date on all manners possible. Fans of traditional heavy metal might find it hard to listen past the vocals, while fans of the darker sounds might just drop out because it’s all a bit too catchy and old school. But perhaps this Cult of the Serpent Sun could be the album that gives just that little push and pulls both sides together. Addictive album!
Score:
87/100
Label:
Season of Mist, 2025
Tracklisting:
- Cult of the Serpent Sun
- Skull
- Crow (Fear the Night)
- The Mystic
- The Last Blade
- Carry On
- Tarmut
- Winds of Sokar
Line-up:
- Patrick Crawford – Drums
- Scott Hoffman – Guitar
- Van Labrakis – Guitar, vocals
- Avinash Mittur – Bass guitar
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