Night
s/t

Swedish debutants Night are proud of the fact that they have recorded this album live in the studio for five days, this live thing to make you feel the hair flying around while headbanging to some heavy metal. This and something about their live stuff is the only thing they say in the info about this album which on the outside has a very distinct heavy metal look. It looks a bit old, and according to the info the music is supposed to sound old as well. Why is it that so many bands thinks it would be great to be living in the past? a time when things were worse. And despite being so old fashioned they don’t even have a real website just a stupid one on a social media thing. But of course, none of that matters, only quality does.

Quality of imagination is not impressive, every song on this album sounds as a song by someone else and it seems as though there is nothing imaginative or creative about the songs on this album. The variation is quite insignificant as well. The feeling of live and spontaneity is nonexistent and it seems as though these guys go down the same path as countrymen of Bullet and Bonafide to name a few who thinks it was better in the past. The singer sounds like Udo but worse, not a good singer to my ears. The production and sound is not that impressive either, maybe the live thing is a bit destructive. Not a very long album though so it keeps with the times, I mean the time it sounds like it comes from. The sound is actually about the same as the Accept album I’m a Rebel and if blindfolded I would have guessed that these two albums were from the same era both from style and sound quality. And it does not sound like they are particularly recent.

I have a strong dislike for bands who does nothing of their own and bands who thinks we should age anything to make it seem like it was in the past. I wonder if the Volvo 240 is their car of choice and if they play their music on a Sony Walkman when out and about. Maybe they tape Dallas on their VCRs and contemplating getting a Laserdisc to play movies on their 20” TV now that the wireless remote control just has become a thing to count on for your television set. Maybe they also write their lyrics on their electric typewriter, or maybe the Commodore computer if technology is their thing. And before they go on stage they have a bowl of E.T. Cereal or maybe Pac-Man Cereal. I don’t know, but things just don’t seem better in the early eighties. The only advantage I see is that there is no facebook, no google, no twitter and no smartphones, what a wonderful thing but at the same time so much was just daft, especially heavy metal.

So, after researching some eighties silliness I get back to my thing, updating classic style heavy metal is fine by me, I don’t like it very much but at least it aspires to be something. Copying it is another matter and this is just blatant copying of those considered great in the past, it is not even up to their standard of production many times. It is not a good album, although it is not that bad either so if you prefer crap like Bullet or Bonafide you probably love the déjà vu that this band produces as well. If you were bored with this kind of music when it was new (over 30 years ago) then maybe you should just forget that you even thought about giving of your time to this band.

For those of you who thinks music was better 30 years ago and loathe every attempt of reinventing a tired old genre as heavy metal is, for you this is wonderful. For you who wants each and every new album to actually bring something new, this is just one of those albums not to bother with. I am glad I don’t have to bother with it any more now, ten times is more than enough as it was predictable the first time.

HHHHHHH