aiylyn Melodic death gets refueled !

There's something that makes me feel odd about giving Sweet Vengeance 5 stars - a higher rating than I gave any of At the Gates old work, since clearly At the Gates is superior to most, if not all, of the bands they influenced. Yet Sweet Vengeance has the added boost of not just being an unexpectedly well-crafted album of tight, no-nonsense melodic death metal - it has arrived at a time when the genre has unquestionably begun to show internal decay and stagnation. While At the Gates entered into a vacuum, Nightrage steps into a very heavily populated world, thus making it twice the challenge to really deliver something memorable and valuable. Perhaps it's the fact that, likely due to Tomas Lindberg's inclusion, Nightrage seems like the most logical step forward that the Gothenburg scene can take, that warrants 5 stars. Sweet Vengeance is the true son of Slaughter of the Soul.

A difficult question: how does one "mature," "broaden" one's "horizons" by adding clean vocals without also going soft in the process or morphing into something resembling a numetal band? The answer may not be able to be written, but it can be heard here: Tom S Englund is perfect for the part, and his striking clean contributions are sprinkled sparsely enough throughout this music that when they do appear, they matter. They have meaning and value, and are clearly not there just for radio-friendliness. Thus Nightrage proves that you can add new influences to the melodic death mix and come out stronger than ever.

Gus G, of Dream Evil, brings to the table a seasoned skill at a common ground between melodic death metal and power metal: melodic guitar lines, at once harmonic and tonally thick and meaty. It is his name that was the biggest draw for me to the band (with Lindberg being icing on an already sweet cake). He is as adept at rhythm as he is at soloing, never showing off, always playing directly for the song's demands. His parts are more felt than heard. You won't so much say "That's a great guitar line!" because you'll be too busy headbanging to the crunchy riffs and rhythms; but you will notice them.

The somewhat simplistic lyrics might at first be a potential detractor, but I think they work perfectly in this context. Lindberg presents himself free of any pretention that might have come from being a major player in the melodic death metal scene, instead showing that his visceral scream is still with us. You can't understand most of what he's screaming anyway.

Conclusion: if you feel like melodic death metal has been going downhill lately, this is just what the doctor ordered. Melodic death metal needed this album, and fortunately, it got it.