CoC : Nocturnal Breed - No Retreat... No Surrender : Review

Nocturnal Breed - _No Retreat... No Surrender_
(Hammerheart, 1998)
by: Nuno Almeida (8 out of 10)

Nocturnal Breed are another '80s influenced black/thrash band, this being their second album, after 1997's _Aggressor_. The songs are mostly reminiscent of early Venom. Very fast and heavy black/thrash, with good black-ish vocals, killer guitar riffs (though the deja-vu feeling appears now and then), killer solos and blazing drums. So, throughout the album and in tracks like "Thrash the Redeemer", "Warhorse", "Sodomite" and "Possessed", Nocturnal Breed give us their vision of the '80s: a vision of power, hate and fury the good old metal way. There's also a version of Twisted Sister's "Under the Blade" -- I don't know the original (glam-rock was never my kind of music), but I presume this is better than the original, hehes. On the end of the album there's a surprise, "Armageddon Nights". Instead of the usual fast, Venom-like songs, it's a slow/mid-paced, much more blackened song, with anguished, painful vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitars and female vocals. The song is OK, very Celtic Frost influenced, though it has little originality. I guess this could be an indication of the direction Nocturnal Breed are taking, and I bet their next album will be much more Celtic Frost-like. Personally, this is good, since I prefer Celtic Frost's type of metal. Despite the lack of originality, this is a good and powerful album, and they get an extra point for "Armageddon Nights". (Also reviewed in Ancient Ceremonies #3 -- http://come.to/ac-zine)

(article published 15/6/1999)