Noctum
Final Sacrifice

If I wanted to describe the band with another popular one, the band I would choose is Ghost. As far as the vocals are concerned, Noctum reminded me a lot of Ghost, although they are much heavier. In some parts the band reminded me Iron Maiden musically. For example the intro of the opening song ‘Conflagration’ or the song ‘Deadly Connection’ which is an instrumental one with great guitar melodies. There are also a lot of Black Sabbath elements in this record, which is very logical if we consider that Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne on the vocals crafted the doom metal sound. The vocals of Noctum are soft, pompous, narrative and evocative. Guitars play a major role in those songs, with great guitar solos and riffs.

‘Liberty in Death’ is one of my favorite songs of ‘Final Sacrifice’. There are guitars solos all over the track and I love the Ghost-like vocals. ‘Resurrected in Evil’ reveals a darker side of the band. Songs like the specific one sound heavier, with chorus- break-downs and groovy verses. ‘The Revisit’, another track, kicks off with a Led-zeppelin like bass intro, along with flute’s melodies. The band uses those music patterns during the verses, too. ‘Temples of the Living Dead’ is a faster song, aggressive and heavy. The guitars along with the rhythm section ‘run’ through this one to end up into a Sabbath-like break-down, with vibrato guitars. In fact, the band uses vibrato very much to create a doom feeling for the record. They didn’t want to sound soft; they wanted to sound heavy and exploding.

The disadvantage the specific music style has is that the bands do not sound that innovative, but they only renew the music scene. Doom metal is actually something well-presented in our times and there are a numerous of bands influenced by the doom classic bands or the 70’s occult rock bands. In the case of Noctum, the band managed to create an entertaining album. ‘Final Sacrifice’ flows greatly and didn’t get me tired at all! All Noctum need to do is add and mix even more different elements in their music and they will surely create even better music records.

Summing up, ‘Final Sacrifice’ is rocking, alive and dynamic. The doom lovers will absolute love this record and listen to it over and over again.