ALBUM REVIEW: Nightmares Reign – Deathrite

While the journey of German death metal force field DEATHRITE hasn’t been one without its challenges, 2018 finds them stood firmly amongst their peers. Signed to a new label, and with a new bassist and second guitarist to boot, Nightmares Reign finds the band fully prepared to lead an all out assault on the sub-genre.

Predecessor record Revelation Of Chaos stuck solidly to the boundaries of death metal, with furious pace, and iceberg deep vocals. Nightmares Reign however deviates from this patented style. Here we find something more progressive, accentuated, and experimental. Things get off to a positive start, the ominous tones of When Nightmares Reign eventually give way to a welcome high octane rhythm piercing through the track. There’s a luscious solo from Andy Heinrich to boot too, and collectively it feels like the pre-cursor to something thrilling.

Appetite For Murder strikes as a stompy affair while Bloodlust is a two and a half minute gut punch. The reverberating drums of Stefan Heinz aren’t over exposed, they’re rough around the edges – but add a commendable level of authenticity to proceedings. When it all comes together, The claustrophobic production at work throughout the record adds extra layers of darkness to DEATHRITE‘s brutal tones.

But for all the good work that DEATHRITE manage to fit into the bones of Nightmares Reign, there are moments when the record falls by the way side. Both Demon Soul and Temptation Calls (which have a combined running time of 17 minutes) end up outstaying their welcome. Taking death metal and trying to expand it to these lengths is a gutsy call, especially when DEATHRITE have already made a home for themselves within the walls of ripping your head off for three minutes. The latter especially struggles to find prominence, running at almost 10 minutes long – there’s a barrage of interesting instrumental cascades, but it never quite manages to sustain a level of intensity to keep you enthralled.

Nightmares Reign is a record that tries to grow out of the groundwork laid for it and blossom into something more. And there’s plenty here to sink your teeth into. But where this record falls short is in its lack of bile when compared to some of the bands previous work. This is by no means a full departure from death metal, but those looking for relentless speed and bite in their extreme music may find this aura of progression hard to get on board with.

Rating: 6/10

Nightmares Reign is out now via Century Media Records.

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