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Шведские пауэр-металлеры Nocturnal Rites были образованы в 1990 году гитаристом Fredrik'ом Mannberg'ом и ударником Tommy Eriksson'ом, которого заменил впоследствии Ulf Andersson. К выпуску дебютного альбома состав доукомплектовался вокалистом Anders'ом Zackrisson'ом (до сегодняшнего дня проявившим свои способности только на единственном альбоме американский хэви-метал-группы Gotham City - "The Unknown" ), басистом Nils'ом Eriksson'ом и ритм-гитаристом Mikael'ем Soderstrom'ом. Nocturnal Rites – это один из тех случаев, когда прошлое группы и настоящее совершенно не сопоставимы. Nocturnal Rites образца 1995 года и 2007 – это небо и земля. На дебютнике шведы играют олдскульный, стандартный хэви-пауэр, лишённый оригинальности, хотя ни на кого конкретно не похожий. Взяли ребята наработки Helloween и Iron Maiden, но создать на этой базе что-то новое у них не получилось. В итоге, на альбоме вторичный и невыразительный материал, кроме того, уныло и скучно подающийся, с жиденьким звуком. Одним из слабых мест пластинки является и вокал Anders'а – типичный образец серости и отсутствия харизматичности. Обложка же вообще сама посредственность. Вот так вот спорно и начала свой путь одна из ведущих на сегодняшний день пауэр-метал-команд… |
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Somber shades of death we ride
Sword of steel will laude the one
Sword of steel will crack the sky
For aye the one will rise in shadows
He holds the key to infinity
Open the gates, swing my sword up high
Sword of steel alk in darkened vapour
Clad in veils of night
Unholy powers will rise again
We complete the ceremony
To hail-side by side
2. Skyline Flame
Lachrymose they saw him leaving
Riding along the skyline flame
His shreiks shall forever echo
Over valleys and hills
Mesmerized by the evil
Let the imperial one rule
Ornated in blood we stand
And in his eyes shone victory
In from the darkness he'll return
To his fortress
Standing here with pride
The skyline flame
Paralyzed by the dark one
Riding along the skyline flame
The one who leads us in darkness
And takes us to the flaming depths
We have seen the abyss
We crave its infernal deep
We light our candles
And let them light the way
3. Black Death
The countess was laughing
She looked out the plague from her throne
By the gate in the darkness
The crowd was screaming in pain
Cursed of sickness by starving
People dying slow
They are burning their bodies, the victims
The plague got in hold
The plague is getting in its hold
There is no way to escape
The old man conquered her throne
So it's been told
A new day was rising
The unknown came riding along
An old man with power and strength
To conquer the throne
In shelter of darkness
The people were standing strong
By their leader the old man
They are hunting the countess down
4. In A Time Of Blood And Fire
In a time of blood and fire
Before the break of dawn
Mighty swords were held to the sky
In a land that rules by darkness
Of evil and fire spawned
Damnation now eclipsed the sun
As black horsemen rode along with
Death at their side
So the scene of death rose the winds
In black blood they shall baptise
And under a black star the demon will rise
In a time of blood and fire
They rode across the lands
In a time of blood and fire
Under wings of yore they shelter
A thousand years have passed now
Oh, so grim and dark
Now men must laude the demon's mark
Servants of unholy powers
In darkness must confide
To the abyss in the darkness they descend
5. Dawnspell
The Spell of the dawn has been cast
Like the storm rides the wind
It clouds darkness and evil
To come on strong again
It follows the sign of the one
The bringer of thunder and storm
Voices of darkness now call out
The one to ride again
Riding out instorm under cover
Look out for the dawn and its power
The spell is cast as it rides the wind
Standing tall holy defenders
Come on strong before the dawn
And the night will come and spell will
Rise again
The curse of the spell has brought fear
To the people again
They run from the curse for they dread
The spell of dawn they've seen
There is no way to run from the spell
The bringer of thunder and storm
Voices of darkness anew called out
And the ones they rode again
6. Lay Of Ennui
Hear us prince of darkness
Guide us to our dreams
To hold the seven keys
To rule the world beneath
We crave the blackest love
As we gaze on through the gate
Now thy name we call out
Give us lord of evil
Thy touch shall atone
Through the sea of flames
The seven gates we see
We await the black salvation
We light the thirteen candles
Now thy name we call out
Lay of ennui king of the lore
Lay of ennui hear our call
Lay of ennui prince of the darkness
Lay of ennui we abide
Through the darkest night
Guide us to our dreamsow in front of thee
But you won't hear
As the flames of evil arose
We draw the sign in the blood
Now thy name we call out
7. Winds Of Death
Through the winds of death we ride
I swing my sword up high
You'll taste my steel, I won't abide
Cause you know you are gonna die
Clad in leather and chains we slay
We fight for king and land
We'll burn your homes and bring you dismay
With our vast swords in hand
Glory, victory, forever hail
Howl in mighty rage
Clad the sky bleak
Claw the hide of enemy
Hail the winds of death
We spread the ashes of your dead
There is nothing left to save
We sear the ground where they bled
We pledge doom upon your grave
Make them cry and bleed
The storm shall howl and now descend
Hordes of shade, they call, they heed
They call, they heed
8. Rest In Peace
Called out to load the ships
They are sailing at dawn
With hundred men at their side
Flames from a distance
Lighting up the sky
And the warriors will rise
Armed with swords and arrows
Battle begins
They will fight for their pride
The sound of steel echoes in the night
The wind cries out loud
Into the night they are calling
To the ones dying brave
May they now rest in peace
Forever the battle is won
Twenty of the men are
Slowly going down
But the treasures are found
Back on the ship, the survivors
Scream out - the battle is won
The twenty men who couldn't
Make it to share their victory
May they now rest in peace
On the dragonisle, they are buried
Side by side
Hail to their pride
9. Dragonisle
By the power of our father's rusty
swords
We are standing proud and strong
Under banner and king our soil
Drinks blood of the enemy
From here we see through the raven's eyes
We ride the winds of north
And from cups of silver we drink from
The dragon's blood
Standing tall
STAND TALL
To fight them all
FIGHT THEM ALL
For Dragonisle
Through the Seven winds of Wrath we
Called
Called up to the gods
With steel at our sides we defend the
dragonisle
Baptised in the dragon's blood
We hail our king with pride
And in the fire, for aye one with the king