Nightbearer – Defiance
Release Date: 13th June 2025
Label: Testimony Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Entombed, Grave, Dismember.
Review By: Paul Cairney
Defiance is the 3rd album by German death metal quintet, Nightbearer. As per their previous output, these Germans have released an album that is as pure a Swedish death metal sound as a proper Swedish band would produce. It is insanely catchy and has riffs that will bring a smile even to the most miserable of Metalheads.
Interestingly, the opening refrains of the album, ‘Dust’, develops into a mellow soothing track that belies the upcoming aggression the remaining 9 tracks will provide. This aggression is immediate in the 2nd track, ‘His Dark Materials’, chainsaw riffs, deliberate vocals and a sense of power litter the track as it strikes home the strength of the band.
Nightbearer use fantasy literature as themes for their albums, and you may have guessed that it is the Phillip Pullman series, His Dark Materials that inspired Defiance. While not really needed to enjoy the album, the tracks themselves do have a little extra about them, for example, ‘One Church Over All’ is a direct link to the ‘Magisterium’, the religious/political Governors of the Pullman world. The track itself has a magnificent rumbling riff that is both heavy and cold, dragging the listener along in its internal doctrine.
Sitting in the Scandinavian sound, you know that Defiance will have melody embedded into its core. The tracks sore with melodic power and aggression. ‘Under the Sun’ displays a dissonant heart that is betrayed by a feeling of true death metal, where the 9-minute-long, ‘Ascension’ flits between epic heavy death metal and acoustic atmospheric interludes. Magnificently contrasting sounds that inculcate the track deep inside you.
Nightbearer know their worth, know their sound and, most importantly, have the talent and commitment to act upon it with deliberate intent. Defiance is a beast of an album. It is based on a very popular series of books, and its reverential approach to the source material makes the album even more enjoyable.
(4.5 / 5)
