Year : 2016
Style : Epic Melodic Death Metal , Hard Rock
Country : Germany
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 164 mb
Bio:
Nothgard is a German Epic Melodic Death Metal Band.The band stands out for 3 technical guitars and epic orchestral parts combined with influences of folk, classic,melo-death and hard rock.Nothgard is an epic melodic death metal band from Germany, founded in 2008 by Singer and Lead-Guitarist Dom R. Crey and the former drummer Toni. The band stands out due to the 3 technical guitars and their intoxicating live shows.After a few months of jam sessions, they started to work on their own songs. Of course there was an indispensable need for a bassist and rhythm guitar. Vik joined the band as man responsible for the pressure. Simultaneously with Chris (rhythm guitar), Lena became a member of the band, giving the songs a symphonic touch by playing the keys. So their collective ideas let develop varied songs with lots of influences out of death-, folk-, and classic. The last need was a band name, which was found in “Nordavind” for the present. Finally the band was more or less ready to start with rehearsals. Soon the first gig came ahead in a local biker hall what was a good chance to demonstrate the new written stuff and get feedback in any way. Unfortunately dissensions between the members caused an egress of Chris and Lena of “Nordavind”. But that was no reason to put the project on ice. The time gained was used to work on the first three demo songs “Rise after Falling”, “Sword Of Xanten” and “Funeral March”, which were released via MySpace in September 2009. After nights out, searching for two more capable musicians a new Keyboarder was found in Rosh. Daniel K. became the new rhythm guitarist. Now a new band name was essential. Furthermore nights came across spent with thinking about a new name. Eventually and fortunately it was found in “Nothgard”.In 2010 the band stared with some gigs in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republik. A highlight for the young band was the Metalfest Open Air, where Nothgard played in front of a very impressed and interested audience. In June the guys signed a label and booking contract with Black Bards Entertainment.In November drummer Toni has decided to leave the band for some private reasons, therefore Nothgard was looking for a new drummer.In April 2011 the band has released their debut album called "Warhorns of Midgard", which received rave reviews. In the same month they performed their first European tour together with Skyforger, Heljareyga, Gernotshagen, Kromlek and Northland.After a long period without a steady drummer Nothgard has found a new virtuosic member in Dominik Ziegler. Only five months later the band and Rosh have decided to go separate ways.2012 Skaahl joined the band as their 3rd guitarist. Since then the line-up is constant and stronger than ever.With their new and second album the Band is heading straight towards to originality, technical finesse and maturity.The new material will be bombastic, epic and very technical simply because all three Guitars establish a new way of a harmonic interplay between rhythm and double-leads. Beside this “Guitar-Orchestra” the orchestra parts of the keys ensure pure epicness and heroic power all along the line.
Album:
Nothgard have truly nailed a remarkable formula here on The Sinner's Sake, which carries over many of the more positive and memorable aspects of 2014's Age of Pandora. The menagerie of disparate elements at display here are result in a very characteristic final product. On one end, Nothgard are clearly influenced by Ensiferum insofar as ephemeral "folk" trappings and orchestral bombast that only serves as an outlier as opposed to dominating the sound. Whether or not this was a conscious decision or accidental masterstroke, it works very well with their approach because focus is rarely pulled from the riffs, which themselves are more than up to the challenge.I could drop the tired Bodom associations, but the bottom line is that Nothgard sound very Finnish, at least concerning the riffs. Replete with variety, the guitars thrash, stomp and melodically inveigle their way through a smattering of memorable licks. A large chunk of the sound appears allocated to rocking discord alongside scathing power metal hooks. Sort of like Brymir, Bloodred Hourglass and Silent Fall; to name a few more obscure parallels. Nothgard have damn near carved out their own style at times, with melodies calling back to earlier albums. A good starting point would be "Shadow Play," a throbbing riff factory laced with sticky melodies and throaty vocals. The licks aren't necessarily clinical or complex, but have that aesthetically loose, Children of Bodom-inspired gait to them. The riffs sort of dart all over the place stylistically. It helps keep the listener engaged in a way few bands seem able to nowadays.Keyboards are present, but seriously downplayed. I am generally okay with this, since they are delivered in that pseudo-orchestral style that excels more as accentuation as opposed to driving the music outright. Nothing on here fuses the symphonics with the metal element as well as "Wings of Dawn" did, but then again they don't need to. The riffs on The Sinner's Sake blow the earlier material out of the water. There is a fair heaping of groove here as well, although telegraphed via that more rocking medium I mentioned earlier. It has an effervescent bounce to it that plays off of the licks exceptionally. Solos are snappy and perfunctory, playing more to sporadic technicality. When the drums fully open up, the band really takes off, but Nothgard have a strange habit of abruptly pausing during riffing sequences. I suppose that this is part of their style, but it can be frustrating when you are expecting more harried, consistently uptempo fare.I was a fan of this band before, but even I have to admit that I was a bit shocked by the consistency on display here on The Sinner's Sake. Despite some of the songs later in the procession failing to strike the same magic formula as the title track, "From Lambs to Lions" and "Shadow Play," nothing on here even come close to sucking. Production values are stellar as expected, sounding bombastic enough to sell the symphonic constituent while maintaining muscle where it counts. I will admit that I was annoyed by some of the spoken-word bits, which were also a problem on the earlier material, but these moments are markedly fleeting. The female vocalist on "Sin Eater" also isn't for me, but at least she is consolidated to one song for easy skippage. 2016 has been a very disappointing year, so this stands out in a big way. Nothgard earned an opportunity to prove their mettle courtesy of Age of Pandora, and they took great advantage of it here.
Line Up:
Dom R. Crey - Vocals, Guitars (lead) - See also: Equilibrium, ex-Wolfchant
Skaahl - Guitars (rhythm) (2013-present) - See also: Wolfchant
Nico Kolja - Bass (2015-present), Vocals (backing) (2016-present) - See also: ex-Knaat
Dominik Z - Drums (2011-present) - See also: ex-Wolfchant (live)
Tracklist:
01. Glittering Shades (Intro) 01:41
02. From Lambs to Lions 05:12
03. The Sinner's Sake 04:37
04. Iron Sights 04:16
05. Death Unites 04:33
06. Shadow Play 05:21
07. Descendants of the Sun 04:42
08. Last Child Standing 04:00
09. Draining Veins 04:40
10. When Gods Cry 04:22
11. Sin Eater 04:02
+ Video "Draining Veins" (Official Video)
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