NIGHT IN GALES - Five Scars

What started as a promising band in the mid 90's, slowly faded away in the light of the new century, and the short hiatus the band took to explore it's musical horizons lasted about a decade. But they are back, with their fifth album so far, and their first, if I'm not mistaken in LifeForce Records. What the listener will find here, is a band playing Swedish Death Metal, with all it's pros and almost none of it's cons. There are tons of melodies, aggressive and clear vocals, crunchy guitar riffs, a solid rhythm section, and songs that are well written and catchy enough. There are enough Thrash elements in their music and this makes this album a bit more aggressive, something that is also welcome. The songs are well written, with a variety in influences that prevent them from becoming repetitive, with nice and well worked melodies, parts to bang your head and sing along, and with some interesting ideas that the band is trying to explore as much as possible. The production done by Dan Swano is great, not that we expected less from a man so familiar with the genre, and is another plus for the album. If you are a fan of the genre, a fan of the band, or both, then do check this album. With the majority of the songs standing much above the average, this release will establish the trademark NIG in the Metal map once again, and will open new opus in their career.

9/10