NOCTURNAL BREED – Fields Of Rot

Nocturnal Breed was formed in Oslo, Norway in 1996 by members of the Black Metal bands Dimmu Borgir and Satyricon. They have toured with bands such as Emperor, Aura Noir, Bal-Sagoth, and Aeternus, featured strippers in their live shows, and had guest performances by Metal veterans like Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) and Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir). Their fourth album to date was recorded at Deadringer Studios in Norway and is a massive lecture in brutal, aggressive Thrash Metal.

All the lyrics on Fields Of Rot were written by vocalist and bass player S. A. Destroyer. With words like “In rotting white flesh / more maggots now than meat / slowly blood-flies eat me up / my hands are rotting off / hacked apart – the living hell / upon the fields of rot.” Mr. Destroyer’s words deal with the brutality of war, and he doesn’t put anything in between; the words are as brutal and honest as the music itself.

The vocals on this release are mostly growling, which Mr. Destroyer indeed knows how to do, but in-between you can find the occasional “clean-vocal” line. For instance the song “Iron Bitch,” that sounds a bit like Motörhead on speed, Destroyer’s voice sounds a lot like Lemmy himself. It’s a cool and different approach than the other songs on the record.

The riffs on Fields Of Rot, courtesy of Ben Hellion and A.E. Rattlehead, are fast, brutal and technical, and the solos are very well constructed. They are very melodic and every now and then you can hear a twin guitar solo. The guitar solo on “The Dead” actually sounds a bit Iron Maiden-inspired, and solos like those on “Wicked, Vicious & Violent” are short and fast, but still very melodic. This is something that separates Nocturnal Breed from most other Thrash Metal bands; even though they have fast and typical Thrash Metal solos (like the first one on “Fields Of Rot”) where the point seems to be getting as many notes packed into a fifteen seconds solo as possible (but still cool as hell), they also have these incredible melodic solos.

Drummer Tex Terror seems to have his shit in order; the man is a living drum machine! It’s extremely cool to sit and listen to Mr. Terror kicking the hell out of the bass drums and typical Thrash Metal elements like utilizing the snare drum on the 2nd and 4th beat. Unlike what’s common in most Thrash Metal acts, Mr. S. A. Destroyer’s bass play doesn’t duplicate the guitar all the way. Listen for instance to “The Dead” where he adds some interesting things to the song.

The cover art made by Kjell Nystuen is … well, a work of art. It’s the perfect cover art for an album entitled Fields Of Rot. It shows dead men lying on the ground, men already rotting fighting each other and in the background you can see three dead men hanging from a tree. It’s brutal and captures both the title and Nocturnal Breed’s musical style perfect.

It would be unfair to single out a couple of songs and claim that they are the highlight of the album, because the entire album is a giant highlight. You need to listen to it from the start to the final chord to do it justice. The only regret to be made here is that the total running time is only thirty-two minutes; it’s over way to fast! Nocturnal Breed have said that “… this time, a change of production participants and more pungent work ethics have taken Nocturnal Breeds power-chord driven misanthropy to a new level.” Well, that is indeed true. You’ll have to search thoroughly through your Thrash Metal collection to find a better release.

The Band

S.A. Destroyer – Vocals, bass
Tex Terror – Drums
Ben Hellion – Guitar
A.E. Rattlehead – Guitar

Tracklist

1. Wicked, Vicious & Violent (4:11)
2. Fields of Rot (2:53)
3. Too Damned To Conquer (2:50)
4. Manskinner (3:01)
5. In Sickness and in Hell (4:17)
6. Invasion of the Body-Thrashers (3:26)
7. Iron Bitch (3:14)
8. Code of Conduct (2:19)
9. The Dead (3:14)
10. Scything Harrow (3:05)