It seems to be a new habit for Noble Demon: a sampler after each year with the best you get on this label and thus nicely giving a good recap on what happened the past year! It’s also a good thing to listen to it and discover the label and all the bands signed over there in case you missed it all!
Featuring the release-highlights of 2021 from acts such as Night Crowned, Mercury Circle, Dawn of Solace, Zornheym, Repentance, NeonFly, Oceanhoarse, Plaguestorm and Begat The Nephilim
Two artists on this compilation ended on first and second place withing my overview of the year and that says a lot! There is one band that I seemed to have missed, so when I’m done with this I will try to make it up and will review their album too! Like this you see it’s always a good thing!
Night Crowned a Swedisch Black / Death metal band opens the sampler with Nattkrönt. I have no clue what they sing but it sounds really heavy and gets mixed with a melodic slice. The vocals go from hard and fast screaming, grunting, to clean backing vocals. The drums hit as if the Norse god of thunder has taken over! The piano part give you some time to catch your breath before they bomb you over and over. It’s not my favourite genre but I dig it and that means it really good!
Oceanhoarse comes withOne With The Gun: a fuelled song with good vocals and a good tempo! It’s one of the bands I missed somehow, so glad I run into them by the bias of this cool sampler!
Neonfly feat. Dany Divine brings a cover Venus (Shocking Blue). I know the original well enough. I like this new version that mixes metal with a bit of an erotic side and crafts like this the best possible cover version for this hot track! With this they also show that even a cover can be changed into gold! It’s not for nothing that I called out their album as album of the year!
Another bomb comes with the band that delivered the second best album of the year: Mercury Circle –You Opened Up The Earth. I already loved their EP (launched last year) and got totally hooked to their melancholic sound and great vocals! This song is a nice outtake from their majestic album that got launched this year!
PlaguestormEvolution Towards The Edge: sounds like a bomb and has an epic guitar solo. The vocals are not my thing but I adore the fire and the energy!
NeonFly Feat. Bjorn StridThe Future, Tonight: starts with a bomb and sounds like a hard hitter! I like the mix of both vocals and the tempo of the song! This song mixes heaviness with sweetness. Bjorn’s voice fit’s like a glove!
Night CrownedFjättrad fills the air with energy and harsh screaming. The guitars remind me a bit of Amon AmarthJomsviking album. The drummer is a hard hitter!
OceanhoarseReaching Skywards sounds like I heard it on the radio! It has a catchy chorus and good clean vocals. The tempo is nicely fired up and the music is melodic!
Mercury CircleBlack Mirrors This song is filled with emotions, mostly sadness! The chorus is top notch! One of my favourite tracks on this album! Check out the female whispering voice (sounds pretty hot)! The synths give it a real good touch!
ZornheymKeep The Devil Away is another death/Black metal band with heavy vocals (and some clean ones too).
NeonflyBeating Hearts starts like a melancholic ballad (strings included). Once the backings jump in it feels like I can see an opening track from a WWF female star called Becky Lynch, who is just like the band Irish). Once the tempo moving up it gets a bit of a dramatic and bombastic feel. The break kills it a bit, but the song moves on like waves of a ferocious sea. I love it!
PlaguestormPurifying Fire is a melodic track that mixes nicely screams, grunting and clean vocals.
Begat The NephilimPaupers Grave sounds like as if monsters have taken over the mic and start screaming at each other whilst the drummer tries to hit them, the guitar player tries to play his part and somebody is play nicely on a piano.
Night CrownedGudars Skymning is a good screamer! I like the guitar play and the tempo (the Lo’s and the high’s). It’s not my genre but it sounds good!
OceanhoarseFrom Hell To Oblivion almost sounds melancholic and has cool and strong backings. It must not been easy for their singer to reach all the notes (going from High to low, back and forth, mixed with some screaming).
Dawn of SolaceWhite Noise sounds very melodic and has a rich sound (I like the acoustic guitar and the doom metal touch). There is also a lot of variation within this track and that makes it very interesting. It’s a good one!
Begat The NephilimPaterfamilias is another bomb in the house: hard and heavy with screaming monsters and pigs getting tortured (sorry: it’s not my style and this is how it sounds to me). Still: I like the energetic vibe as it really pumps you up!
Repentance feat. Corey BeaulieuReborn explodes from the start with sharp guitars and hammering drums! The vocals are as sharp as the guitar sound! It’s raw and heavy and I’m sure a lot of fans of this love it!
Mercury CircleThe Gates Wide Open is some kind of a intro. The song builds up slowly, with Indian chants, tribal drums and a floating guitar sound. The vocals give it a clear dark and melancholic touch (the way I really like them the most). The more you listen to it the better it gets! Towards the end it gets more epic! A really great one!
Dawn of Solace Skyline sounds a bit cleaner as their other songs I heard here. The tone is more dramatic with halfway a very Wagnerian sound (the kind I really adore). So far it’s their best track on this compilation! There’s a cool bass too! I like the soft ending too!
ZornheymSlumber Comes In Time comes with symphonic metal and lots of pathos. It reminds me a bit of Ghost. It’s a good track!
OceanhoarseThe Damage is a good hard hitter with clean vocals. The guitar play is from a very high level!
RepentanceNo Innocence explodes from the start (hard hitting drums and screaming vocals).
Mercury Circle feat. Oceans of Slumber and Cammie GilbertLike Matches is another great track with a god tempo and a very catchy feel! This one has for sure a great potential! The extra female vocals are also really great! For me it’s very clear: this one is the best track on this compilation!
Dawn of SolaceEvent Horizon shows off their softer side (reminding me from far of Beseech). This is one of the surprises on this compilation and I hope to review their album later on! This shows why good compilations are needed as it makes you discover great bands and or great tracks!
Once again the label did a great job and I’m sure they keep all kind of metal and hard rock fans happy with the artists they signed and the albums they released so far! Keep up the good work!
All clips on Noble Demon channel
A little extra as I'm missing this one:
