Reviewed - 10/08/04
The
Taste Of Victory
[Oriana Records]
Where did this band go to? What happened here? After 2000's "NeChrist" I had never heard of a thing from them up until now. I know they were signed to The End Records here in the US, but I think they had a problem with Nokturnal Mortum's... ummm... racial stance. Back in the days of the early Nokturnal Mortum albums, I originally got into them by buying "Goat Horns" and "To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire" because someone said I'd like them due to my obsession with folk metal. These albums were good, but to me they were not folk metal at all. I mean, there were some folk melodies to be found on these albums, but the cheesy keyboards they used to synth the traditional instruments were to say the least underwhelming. When "NeChrst" came out, I was a much happier person. They retained their trademark black metal style, but included tons and tons of traditional instruments which made the overall experience much more enjoyable and respectable than if they had synthed those parts again. Four years went by without so much as a peep from this band, then I see "The Taste Of Victory" for sale on my fave distro's website, and when I saw it was new material I knew I had to have it if just to see what direction the band had taken lately.
"The Taste Of Victory" in short is better than anything Nokturnal Mortum has done so far. They have slowed down a bit compared to their earlier albums and have taken on a more epic feeling. At the same time they have gotten even folkier since "NeChrist" and they still use the actual traditional instruments en masse, which is always a good thing to me. Never before has Nokturnal Mortum brought together their core black metal sound and folk music better than they have on "The Taste Of Victory". The easy going and soothing folk elements blend perfectly with their newer more epic and melodic sound, and there's very few albums I've heard that accomplishes this in such a great way as "The Taste Of Victory" has. This sounds a bit like the newer Graveland material if you ask me, but with a shitload of folk elements. I'm sure this band has lost some of it's early hardcore fans by releasing this mellower and folkier material, but I'll bet they have gained more than they lost and to me they really haven't "sold out" at all as some seem to think. One thing... this album's first four tracks are supposed to be a "teaser" for their upcoming full length album titled "Weltanschauung". These first three tracks on "The Taste Of Victory" are twenty seven minutes long. Makes me wonder how long the full length will be.
The lyrics are... well, for one they aren't included with the CD for some reason. There's no lyric book at all in fact, but I'll get into that when I talk about the packaging later in the review. No doubt about it, Nokturnal Mortum are still a N.S.B.M. band, and in fact they seem to have strengthened their resolve in that aspect. That's going to immediately stop some people from buying this album right away. I never could understand that though. I mean, I don't believe or take to heart many of the band's lyrics I listen to, and I wish others could do the same. I am a grown up and can make my own decisions without having a metal album influence the way I think. I know that listening to a death metal album doesn't make me want to rape women and kill people, listening to folk metal doesn't mean I carry a tin whistle with me everywhere I go, and listening to Nokturnal Mortum doesn't necessarily mean I'm a Nazi. Anyway, on with the rest. I can't comment specifically on the lyrics, but I can comment on the vocalist. I know the lineup has changed a bit since "NeChrist", so I don't know if this is the same vocalist or not as I can't seem to find much info on their site about lineups either, but whoever sings on "The Taste Of Victory" is excellent. He has an almost Viking metal quality to his voice and does this style more often than the screaming vocals of old Nokturnal Mortum. He's not the best, but he's better than most and his style fits the folkier aspect of this album well.
The production is not quite as good as "NeChrist", but it's still damn good. The various folk instruments come through crystal clear even when the metal aspect of the album is in full gear and the vocalist is getting into it. The drums tend to be a bit in the background too much, but even they still come through rather well.
The layout of this album is a mixed bag of greatness and cheapness. At first when I got it I was surprised because this CD comes in a DVD case. The artwork and everything is done just as a DVD would be done, and that looks cool. The cover depicts a dead Nazi soldier, which doesn't make sense considering the band's love for such people. The cover wraps around to a photo of another German soldier sitting on the remains of an anti tank gun that has been blown all to hell. His dead fellow soldier is lying on the ground next to him. The live soldier appears to be weeping as he holds his head in an almost defeated manner in his hands. And if one hadn't suspected the band to be into White Power more than ever, the Nokturnal Mortum logo has now changed. Where the goat's head used to be on the logo now sits a shield with spears and a spiked club displayed behind it. On top of the shield you can easily make out four swastikas. This DVD styled layout is cool and all, but when you open the case up, it's rather uninspiring. There's nothing at all inside the case aside from the CD itself. No lyric booklet, no propaganda, no information at all. That's a shame because with all of this room they had the opportunity to do great things with it. Oriana Records should be ashamed for not at least including the lyrics or something extra since this DVD styled layout is more money than most jewel case CD's are.
I think there is something for all fans of Nokturnal Mortum to be found on "The Taste Of Victory". Not only do I think that "The Taste Of Victory" is their best album to date, I think this album has pushed them up into my five top folk metal bands of all time. I'm so glad they have turned to this style they have chosen instead of staying with their older sound which quote honestly wasn't very unique. It's nice to see Nokturnal Mortum return after such a long absence. As I stated earlier, this is just a taster for the new album due out soon and I couldn't see the band releasing any other thing that would be better to tide the fans over until that new album is released. Very highly recommended.
[Oriana Records]
Where did this band go to? What happened here? After 2000's "NeChrist" I had never heard of a thing from them up until now. I know they were signed to The End Records here in the US, but I think they had a problem with Nokturnal Mortum's... ummm... racial stance. Back in the days of the early Nokturnal Mortum albums, I originally got into them by buying "Goat Horns" and "To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire" because someone said I'd like them due to my obsession with folk metal. These albums were good, but to me they were not folk metal at all. I mean, there were some folk melodies to be found on these albums, but the cheesy keyboards they used to synth the traditional instruments were to say the least underwhelming. When "NeChrst" came out, I was a much happier person. They retained their trademark black metal style, but included tons and tons of traditional instruments which made the overall experience much more enjoyable and respectable than if they had synthed those parts again. Four years went by without so much as a peep from this band, then I see "The Taste Of Victory" for sale on my fave distro's website, and when I saw it was new material I knew I had to have it if just to see what direction the band had taken lately.
"The Taste Of Victory" in short is better than anything Nokturnal Mortum has done so far. They have slowed down a bit compared to their earlier albums and have taken on a more epic feeling. At the same time they have gotten even folkier since "NeChrist" and they still use the actual traditional instruments en masse, which is always a good thing to me. Never before has Nokturnal Mortum brought together their core black metal sound and folk music better than they have on "The Taste Of Victory". The easy going and soothing folk elements blend perfectly with their newer more epic and melodic sound, and there's very few albums I've heard that accomplishes this in such a great way as "The Taste Of Victory" has. This sounds a bit like the newer Graveland material if you ask me, but with a shitload of folk elements. I'm sure this band has lost some of it's early hardcore fans by releasing this mellower and folkier material, but I'll bet they have gained more than they lost and to me they really haven't "sold out" at all as some seem to think. One thing... this album's first four tracks are supposed to be a "teaser" for their upcoming full length album titled "Weltanschauung". These first three tracks on "The Taste Of Victory" are twenty seven minutes long. Makes me wonder how long the full length will be.
The lyrics are... well, for one they aren't included with the CD for some reason. There's no lyric book at all in fact, but I'll get into that when I talk about the packaging later in the review. No doubt about it, Nokturnal Mortum are still a N.S.B.M. band, and in fact they seem to have strengthened their resolve in that aspect. That's going to immediately stop some people from buying this album right away. I never could understand that though. I mean, I don't believe or take to heart many of the band's lyrics I listen to, and I wish others could do the same. I am a grown up and can make my own decisions without having a metal album influence the way I think. I know that listening to a death metal album doesn't make me want to rape women and kill people, listening to folk metal doesn't mean I carry a tin whistle with me everywhere I go, and listening to Nokturnal Mortum doesn't necessarily mean I'm a Nazi. Anyway, on with the rest. I can't comment specifically on the lyrics, but I can comment on the vocalist. I know the lineup has changed a bit since "NeChrist", so I don't know if this is the same vocalist or not as I can't seem to find much info on their site about lineups either, but whoever sings on "The Taste Of Victory" is excellent. He has an almost Viking metal quality to his voice and does this style more often than the screaming vocals of old Nokturnal Mortum. He's not the best, but he's better than most and his style fits the folkier aspect of this album well.
The production is not quite as good as "NeChrist", but it's still damn good. The various folk instruments come through crystal clear even when the metal aspect of the album is in full gear and the vocalist is getting into it. The drums tend to be a bit in the background too much, but even they still come through rather well.
The layout of this album is a mixed bag of greatness and cheapness. At first when I got it I was surprised because this CD comes in a DVD case. The artwork and everything is done just as a DVD would be done, and that looks cool. The cover depicts a dead Nazi soldier, which doesn't make sense considering the band's love for such people. The cover wraps around to a photo of another German soldier sitting on the remains of an anti tank gun that has been blown all to hell. His dead fellow soldier is lying on the ground next to him. The live soldier appears to be weeping as he holds his head in an almost defeated manner in his hands. And if one hadn't suspected the band to be into White Power more than ever, the Nokturnal Mortum logo has now changed. Where the goat's head used to be on the logo now sits a shield with spears and a spiked club displayed behind it. On top of the shield you can easily make out four swastikas. This DVD styled layout is cool and all, but when you open the case up, it's rather uninspiring. There's nothing at all inside the case aside from the CD itself. No lyric booklet, no propaganda, no information at all. That's a shame because with all of this room they had the opportunity to do great things with it. Oriana Records should be ashamed for not at least including the lyrics or something extra since this DVD styled layout is more money than most jewel case CD's are.
I think there is something for all fans of Nokturnal Mortum to be found on "The Taste Of Victory". Not only do I think that "The Taste Of Victory" is their best album to date, I think this album has pushed them up into my five top folk metal bands of all time. I'm so glad they have turned to this style they have chosen instead of staying with their older sound which quote honestly wasn't very unique. It's nice to see Nokturnal Mortum return after such a long absence. As I stated earlier, this is just a taster for the new album due out soon and I couldn't see the band releasing any other thing that would be better to tide the fans over until that new album is released. Very highly recommended.
 |
||||||||
Tracklist:
|
||||||||
| Rating: 9.5/10 | ||||||||
| Release Date: 2004 | ||||||||
| Length: 42:47 | ||||||||
| Review By: Britton Dicks | ||||||||
| Total Reviews: (1) | ||||||||
| Bands Website: Go Here | ||||||||
 |