Aggressive and melodic metal from these Greek veterans
A new drummer and guitarist was added to Nightrage's potent line-up last year. Whether that enhances or detracts from the quality remains to be heard. I lost track of these Greek melo-deathers in the late 00s. One listen to 'The Venomous' makes me wonder why I've missed out over the years. It's aggressive yet extremely melodic with the familiar mid-90s Swedish influences. While not trapped by metalcore, it has those bright, flashy colors of twin guitar harmony, loads of fretwork and harsher vocals that occasionally blend into cleaner passages. This is a lethal dose of aggressive metal and one that will probably make my top 20 of the year.