Nocturnal Breed�a band that�s been around for ages so it seems. In 1997 they released their first album Raping Europe. Since that moment they released new albums on a regular basis. This is already their sixteenth release.

 

So what can someone expect who has never heard of Nocturnal Breed before? Well, you just have to read the song titles to know enough. Titles as �In Sickness and in Hell� and �Too Damned to Conquer� bring a smile on my face. Can�t help it, but I really dig those wordgames�

 

I think it�s quite clear that Nocturnal Breed plays thrash metal and this is one of the more uptempo kind. Lyrical wise there is a war style theme going on. Not really my cup of tea, but hey with this kind of music it�s not about the lyrics, but more if the songs make your head bang or not! In the case of Nocturnal Breed it�s a bit of a 50/50 story. On one hand they make my foot tap along with the beat, on the other hand the music is a bit one-dimensional. They repeat the same trick over and over again. I think this music is better suited on a festival than listening it in your living room.

 

In short, this isn�t a bad album, but they play it a bit safe. They stay too much on the well-traveled path of thrash metal. A lot of Bay Area thrash influences and of course the old German thrash wave of the late eighties. Not bad at all, but really not a must have with the recent great releases in this genre (read the new Megadeth and Municipal Waste).