Album Review: Nite – Cult of the Serpent Sun (Season of Mist)
San Francisco’s blackened heavy metal band, Nite, deliver a message of strength and perseverance with their new album, Cult of the Serpent Sun.
Set for release on the 14th of March via Season of Mist, Cult of the Serpent Sun is the band’s third full length following on from 2022’s Voices of the Kronian Moon and their debut, 2020’s Darkness Silence Mirror Flame. Nite formed in 2018 and carry the torch for Bay Area metal delivering traditional metal, in the vein of the NWOBHM movement but with a blackened twist that allows them stand out and take different directions with their songs. Despite this raucous and blackened edge to the band, Nite are not looking to deliver doom and gloom, as vocalist and guitarist Van Labrakis states:
“Nite strives to be a light. Cult of the Serpent Sun is about how we persevere in times of immense darkness.”
Nite are throwing everything they have, and have learned into Cult of the Serpent Sun. Knowledge gleaned from appearing at Northwest Terror Fest, touring with fellow statesmen Persekutor and Haunt and playing at Hell’s Heroes VI has given the band a “more is more” philosophy. There is no scaling back, no consolidation or settling. They are taking everything they have learned, everything they have experienced and throwing it all into Cult of the Serpent Sun.
Nite is Van Labrakis on vocals and guitars, Scott Hoffman on guitars, Patrick Crawford on drums and Avinash Mittur on bass.
Cult of the Serpent Sun brings us 8 new tracks to get stuck into starting off with the title track. Quickly catching your interest with its punchy riff and screaming lead, the beat is an instant mover and the NWOBHM vibe is filling my ears. Vocals come in and it all gets a lot darker. Blackened vocals, deep and dark, combine with the thrash and traditional music to create quite an interesting and exciting contrast. The slower tempo is perfect for headbanging along to and the little lead guitar moments of flair elevate the track. The verses through the gruff vocals that are almost spoken, like occult writings being recited, delivers a touch of atmosphere and plenty of depth. It’s really cool and quite a unique song, not quite death, not quite thrash, not quite traditional – just a well worked combination of the best of all worlds.
Skull delivers a quicker riff and drum beat combining nicely with those dark vocals that have a sinister vibe to their delivery. The bassy riff keeps your head moving and the lead guitars drop flair moments and keep the riff moving at pace. It’s a strong song with a wicked guitar solo packed with those dual guitars working off of each other. During the instrumental sections, there is a real nostalgia feel which is really cool, then the vocals come in and transform it into Nite’s own style. Crow (Fear the Night) is next up and is the lead single for Cult of the Serpent Sun.
This track packs a ton of groove with a beat that you just have to headbang to, or throw the horns in the air. It’s such an easy listen, and the more I listen to Nite, the more I realise how clean the vocals actually are. They are dark, a little gruff, and have a sinister edge to them but they are actually quite far away from death metal or a style like that I think. It doesn’t matter, what they are is darker and harsher than the music and that contrast is key to Nite’s sound. As we move through riffs into solos and back again, I have realised that I haven’t stopped banging my head and tapping my foot once. This is a really cool song and very comfortable to listen to. It just sits right and will do with any metal fan.
The vocals come into their own with The Mystic. A song that brings a well placed and correctly timed change up in sound. The pace drops off massively, bringing smoother guitars and gentle tapping drums. That allows the still dark and sinister vocals to stand forward and we get a very dark atmospheric feel. This song, more so than any other so far, gives me occult vibes. I could see this song being played as the elevator music on a ride down to hell. It’s clever, structurally intriguing and shows very mature and innovative song writing skills. Guitars ring out emotionally and despite the dark tint, you do feel uplifted. This is my favourite track so far.
The Last Blade drops some neat acoustic ringing guitars dragging you in. That drops then into our rocking riffs and catchy rhythm to get heads nodding. The vocals, echoing and almost faded to the background keep that devilish tint to them. Soaring lead guitars and layers of harmonisation add ore flair to another catchy song. Nite certainly know how to keep things catchy, and keep the listener engaged here on Cult of the Serpent Sun.
We carry on with the next track, Carry On. I love the intro to this track. The guitars are really cool and the transition into a fast beat, but the same melody is sweet. What you get on this track, appropriately named Carry On as it delivers a continuation of everything we have heard so far really. Catchy beats, clever riffs, and really exciting lead guitars that just pop up all over the place dropping different melodies and solos. Vocals slot nicely into the track, keeping the dark edge but delivering a message of strength and perseverance. It’s definitely a music led band though with vocals used quite sparingly.
Our penultimate track is titled Tarmut and really delivers quite an anthemic song with huge depth to the riffs and glistening melodies. We drop down into a bassy riff and slow drum beat, with vocals almost growled in what sometimes feels like a chant in their delivery. There are some nice touches and moments of difference here that give the song, and the album, some refreshing touches breaking up any risk of monotony. A little bit of acoustics, some extra echo on the vocals and some nice transitions led by the drums filling out or dropping back. Of course solos feature, and prominently – it’s huge part of Nite – and here we get a wonderful extended solo with nice harmonisation too.
Cult of the Serpent Sun closes out with Winds of Sokar and it’s another strong song with a nice steady beat, mesmerising lead guitars and interesting vocals embedded into the traditional heavy metal music. There is a stunning instrumental section where the drums ramp up that I adore, and it leads into a phenomenal dual guitar soloing. Chunky riffing bring us back into the song with the vocals really bringing some emphasis as we reach the close.
Nite have really delivered a strong album here in Cult of the Serpent Sun. An album that manages to deliver a nostalgic feel, but has a modern edge and comes with little twists on the expected sound, mainly through the vocal style. I don’t really know exactly how to characterise the vocal style. At times it has a melodeath feel, a bit like say Dark Tranquility heavy vocals. But there are also gothic and occult undertones to the delivery too, despite the lyricism being more positive than the “occult” word would expect. It’s very comfortable to listen to though. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way.
We all like guitars, riffs, drums and of course solos right? Nite deliver that, expertly. It’s not particularly heavy, especially not in the modern sense of the word where faster and noisier tends to be what people define as heavy now. But it has weight, and depth and a ton of catchiness. You will bang your head, you will want to whip out the guitar (or air guitar) and you will have a great time listening to this album so make sure you check it out.
Pre-order/pre-save Cult of the Serpent Sun, by Nite, from this link.
Tracklist:
1. Cult of the Serpent Sun
2. Skull
3. Crow (Fear The Night)
4. The Mystic
5. The Last Blade
6. Carry On
7. Tarmut
8. Winds of Sokar
Nite Links
Bandcamp – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter (X) – YouTube – Apple Music – Spotify
Author
Nite - Cult of the Serpent Sun (Season of Mist)
By Artist: Nite
Album name: Cult of the Serpent Sun
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The Final Score - 9/10
9/10
