NIGHTTRAIN
“HELL CENTRAL”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Nighttrain are a heavy metal band from Germany formed in 2008, releasing a demo in 2009. The band released their debut album ‘Between Darkness And Light’ in 2011, followed two years later by their second album ‘7 Sins’. The band toured Germany in 2015 supporting Norwegian metallers Chrome Division. In 2020, Nighttrain released their third album ‘Hell Central’…

…with the band inviting their fans to jump on the “metal express” for a journey through heavy metal land. The bands new album is forty four minutes of punchy and infectious “foot on the monitor” style metal, paying homage to the classic sound of eighties traditional heavy metal. The album kicks off in glorious fashion, with the highly melodic and infectious ‘Monument Of Ignorance’. Quickly into their stride, ‘Monument Of Ignorance’ punches hard and kicks harder – provoking foot stomping and head banging wherever it is heard. Nighttrain have launched their “metal express” in breath taking style, with one of the best album openers you’re ever likely to hear this year. ‘Monument Of Ignorance’ is a gem, a slice of awesomeness that will make jaws drop… And remain dropped, for the express powers on with the harder and heavier ‘Child Of Desire’ – not even dropping the highly melodic and infectious streak that Nighttrain build their sound around. What an opening double salvo.

Oh my good God – the heaviness gets heavier and the rock gets rockier, with the pumping ‘My Insanity’. The pummelling and pounding dished out by ‘My Insanity’ is savage, but melodic…just how the fuck can heavy metal be this heavy and infectious at the same time??? While one ponders this – take a listen to the best song on the album: ‘Saved By The Bell’. The opening sounds like it should be on an Iron Maiden album, but when ‘Saved By The Bell’ comes to life proper, oh my fucking God, it’s a corker, especially the sing a long able chorus. And trust me you’ll be singing along, such is its infectiousness. What a song, and what a blistering four song rampage of some of the best “foot on the monitor” heavy metal – and there’s still six songs to go! ‘Numbered Days’ is mid paced melodic metal of the heavy variety. And fuck me, I’ve just realised who Nighttrain remind me of! Fellow countrymen Rage… Of course! Rage are pioneers of the heavy/power metal style and are a band that deliver power metal bordering on thrash but with a massive melodic edge to their sound – and they’ve been around forty years. Nighttrain have been around for just twelve years, and hopefully will enjoy just as long a lengthy career as Rage.

Pace quickens to an all out gallop as ‘Shifted View’ explodes into life and forages a fierce path across the land, leaving only scorch marks in its wake. Furious head banging and frenzied mosh pits will accompany ‘Shifted View’ as it races on. Nighttrain take a detour into the hard rock genre with the heavy hitting ‘From Sparks To Fire’. Serving up the most rock influenced song on the album, ‘From Sparks To Fire’ is catchy, sing a long able, and memorable for all the right reasons. Pneumatic drill riffing rips through the airways as ‘Almost Perfect’ explodes into life and powers ferociously on. ‘Hell Central’ is an almost perfect album – I say almost perfect, as there’s still two songs remaining, and I’ll hold back my final decision for eleven more minutes. Nighttrain combine heavy metal and hard rock with so much ease, infusing huge dollops of the melodic to create an intoxicating sound – a sound that is defined by the hard rocking ‘We Are’. The highly sing a long able chorus is a joy to, err, sing a long to – an in concert crowd are gonna love this one. And as the final song approaches, ‘Hell Central’ is a perfect album. ‘The Cage’ brings the curtain down in stunning style – with heavy. punchy, rocky, melodic, catchy and infectious, the accolades that ‘The Cage’, and indeed the entire album deserve. ‘Hell Central’ is a gem, and one of the biggest surprises of the year. Highly recommended.

Overall, a superb album of “foot on the monitor” heavy metal with a massive melodic edge, ‘Hell Central’ is a gem, and will definitely challenge for Album Of The Year.

TRACKLIST

Monument Of Ignorance
Child Of Desire
My Insanity
Saved By The Bell
Numbered Days
Shifted View
From Sparks To Fire
Almost Perfect
We Are
The Cage

https://nighttrainmusic.de/
https://www.facebook.com/NighttrainFullMetalRock/

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