Nocturnal Wanderer - Gift of the Night CD

Nocturnal Wanderer's music is absolutely otherworldly, with a mesmerizing blend of some of black metal’s finest melodic underpinnings, classic heavy metal, and the dirty romping fun of genre classics a la Venom and Bulldozer without actually sounding like those bands. Nocturnal Wanderer’s sound is their own; just as wild, but even more free, there’s a looseness that draws to mind something primordial dancing in the air, with the potential to be cruel but without the modernity to be construed as anything approaching evil.

Beauty is to be found everywhere throughout Gift of the Night and is a defining characteristic that draws together the music. Minimalism of both riffs and composition give way to frenzied heavy metal solos that are the pulse of the music, and the romping, bass-driven black metal can swiftly build up to one of those emotional solos before falling either into a sharp assault or a dreamy swell. Predicting the album is impossible and the entire thing is a journey; let it draw you in, and it will captivate nothing else.

Highly recommended for fans of Malokarpatan, Havukruunu, Arckanum.