Though they came together from far corners of the Nordic underground, NIGHT SHALL DRAPE US are united by blood and an unwavering spirit for fast, melodic, uncompromising black metal. Their debut album features eight perfectly executed hymns sung by a relentless choir of lunatics. “Lunatic Choir” offers fast blast beats together with raw yet melodic traditional black metal riffs.

“Hymn of Rebellion” Is first. It eases in with clean, solemn guitars, and thick chunky bass, before it roars to life with vocal screams and blast beat drumming. For me, it sounds like fairly traditional Black Metal. “Dead Eden” is more chaotic, entering with a wall of thick guitars and drums in support. The gas pedal is firmly pushed to the floor as the band takes off and shows no sign of slowing down. “Ethereal Constrictor” is a slower paced song at first. There is a good deal of energy to the songs so far, but not a lot of diversity. “Ashes of Men” continues in a similar vein, although the band is varying their pacing a bit. With the talent they have, and considering their record label, they should be pushing a lot more into uncharted territory.

“Unification” has a tortured sound from the vocals and instruments that just goes 100% past what most people would be able to endure, and you can hear the emotion in the vocals. It rolls into “Lunacy and Horror,” which has a similar pace and sound. At this point in the album, there should be more diversity. Modern day bands cannot afford to rest in the laurels of at the past, because the market is oversaturated. “Under the Dead Sky” is another pedal to the metal type of song, and again, the band continues to push this fairly unilateral sound straight through without stopping. “The Queen of the Red Streams” closes the album, and there you have it, eight songs that vary a bit in pace, and this is the first one that varies a bit in sound.

It’s safe to say that I am disappointed with the album. A band with this level of talent and signed to a major record label should be forging new paths in the genre, and believe me, there is plenty of room out there for that. Instead, they go with what is comfortable and perhaps what they believe their fans will want to hear.