NIGHTBEARER is a band that I have never heard of before. So, I hit that “Play button” and a classical guitar intro showed up. That was interesting! All of a sudden, something like Black Metal came in, even though I was expecting to hear a Death Metal band. Not much longer, Death Metal (melodic) brushes started to appear like a cascade. That was a problem for me. I’m not best friends with that section of the ship named melodic Death Metal. I’m part of some other sonorities and I must admit that whenever I hear something like “melodic”, I immediately put my attention somewhere else. But I was supposed to be open and keep going. So, that’s what I did. Only until the track ‘Defiance’ I felt some kind of connection and I began to enjoy the album. I liked the melodies on the track and the guitar work. From that point I felt way more comfortable with the band and with the album in general. Then, I found some Deathcore / melodic components and I had to step back on my perception. But I kept going… For me, the album suffered like a dualism during the track ‘Reign Supreme’. It’s that type of song that “explores” traditional Death Metal elements with melodic parts approaching the Deathcore borders (which I don’t feel is my nature). I think the same happens with the track ‘Under The Sun Of War’. It’s kind of the nucleus of the album and probably the track that can be used to describe what this album is here for and offer. ‘Ascension’ is again incorporating those Black Metal passages from the beginning and encloses the wider rainbow inside the album’s sonorities, while still presenting Deathcore / melodic Death Metal vibes, all merged and giving you a kind of back-and-for feeling of connecting-disconnecting (well, at least to me). ‘Until We Meet Again’, instrumental and ninth track on the album, adds a more kind of Epic Heavy Metal spirit to the album and makes it very well. I really enjoyed that track! Finally, the album closes with ‘Republic Of Heaven’, a song that again takes the band to this mixture of things that I had previously mentioned and captures the band’s essence in its best level. In general, “Defiance” is an album that adds enough elements to be discussed in a lot of circles around Metal music done lately. Just give this a try and form your own opinion. www.facebook.com/nightbearer, www.facebook.com/testimonyrecords