The wise and worldly Don Dokken taught me long ago that one should never unchain the night. Growing up, I’ve done my best to live this crucial truth. Unfortunately, no one ever told me what to do about Nite, the odd heavy metal project birthed by members of Dawnbringer, High Spirits, and Satan’s Wrath. Their 2020 Darkness Silence Mirror Flame debut was an intriguing mash-up of classic 80s and trve metal with a decidedly blackened edge courtesy of vocalist Van Labrakis (Satan’s Wrath). Their enthusiastically retro sound borrowed heavily from Mercyful Fate, Iron Maiden, and of course, Dawnbringer, but sometimes the fit between the music and the vocals didn’t work. They smoothed things out somewhat for 2022s Voices of the Kronian Moon, but nagging issues still held them back. Now third platter Cult of the Serpent Sun is upon us, and they haven’t tweaked their sound so much as honed it into a more imposing weapon. Does that portend good things for those who dwell in the Niteside eclipse?
I’ll say this for Nite: they’re determined to stick to their original concept and find ways to make you love it. While I’ve always enjoyed the core of what they do, the extraordinarily one-note black metal rasps by Van Labrakis were a huge drag on the material. The vocals haven’t changed on Cult of the Serpent Sun, but Nite’s ability to write compelling song with a fuck ton of excellent guitar parts has finally allowed them to overcome the vocal shortcomings. The album plays out like a collaborative jam session between Mercyful Fate, The Night Eternal, Grand Magus, and Dawnbringer, and the guitar work is lusty, mighty, and glorious from start to finish. Cuts like “Skull” throw so much Grand Magus-esque guitar splendor at the wall that you can’t resist gobbling up everything that sticks, and Labrakis’ rasps now add character instead of sounding out of place. “Crow (Fear the Night)” is an impossible song to dislike. The stellar guitar work from Scott Hoffman (Dawnbringer) and Labrakis is out of this world and exactly what makes metal so damn intoxicating. Just listen to all the cool, badass shit they do throughout the song and feel your back hair grow in appreciation.
Elsewhere, “The Last Blade” manages to blend the hard rocking energy of early 80s act like Keel and Y&T with trve vintages like Dawnbringer and Grand Magus for a wild ride into nostalgia. “Carry On” sounds like The Night Flight Orchestra showed up to help In Solitude and/or The Night Eternal add 80s radio rock energy to their typically Mercyful Fate-worshipping material. It’s just an uber-cool tune that gets you fist-pumping and air-guitaring in equal doses as Manowar look down upon you approvingly from their Airbnb at Crom’s Mountain of Steel. The high point is the ginormously epic closer “Winds of Sokar,” where all the honor and valor of Bathory’s Viking era bleeds forth over you in a red geyser of grandeur. You WILL love this song or be judged harshly at the gates of Valhalla by me or some other ape-like security goon. So what are the downsides? A few songs go for mood over hard rocking, and though nothing is skippable, “The Mystic” plays out like a lost piece to the soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian, and it’s too restrained despite its ample machismo. “Tarmut” suffers a similar handicap, with atmosphere superceding badasserey. At a very lean 36 minutes, Cult is a quick, vital listen, though it may take 2-3 spins to fully implant its hooks. Once it does, though, there’s no going back.
Cult is a guitar-lovers wet dream. Hoffman and Labrakis hold nothing back and go deep into the heart of classic metal for an endless series of cutting riffs and shining harmonies. The riffage ranges from edgy, to melodic to heroic, and you will hunger for more, no matter how high they stack the fretboard buffet. Nearly every song features exceptional guitar work and memorable pieces, and the spirit of metal’s golden age lives loudly in the writing. Oh, the sweet, sweet jammage! Van Labrakis’ vocals are the same monotone snarl as before, but somehow, he seems less of an impediment and injects the right amount of oomph to the songs. Would Nite be better with an actual singer? Yes, but three albums in, this is the Nite show, and it’s improving with every release. An additional hats off to the slick drumming by Patrick Crawford, who drives the songs right through your fucking head with propulsive kit thumps.
I expected to be whelmed by Cult of the Serpent Sun and report that I loved the music but not the vocals. I do love the music, and now the vocals don’t bother me as much. This is a very entertaining slab of retro metal that spans multiple genres, and it has truly great moments that I’ll be spinning for a long time. It also exudes a level of coolness that’s hard to resist. Maybe it’s okay to unchain the Nite? I better ask Donny first, though.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: nitemetal.com | nitemetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/nitemetal
Releases Worldwide: March 14th, 2025
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