As the name
Lucifer means bearer of light, the name
Noctifer means bearer of the night. With a name like that and the fact that they wear corpse paint, I was expecting to hear some cartoonishly satanic Black
Metal. But this band hits the genre on a different tangent, with recurring themes concerning the innovative methods of killing and torture that were implemented by the ancient Romans.
Noctifer were one of the first Black
Metal bands from
Rome, so this subject matter is a natural fit for them.
They released 2 demos and 1 EP, between the years 1997 and 2002. This helped them to develop a strong following in Italy, playing gigs with big name bands like
Behemoth,
Impaled Nazerene,
Carpathian Forest, and
Tsjuder. So the band was eventually signed by
Deadsun Records as up and coming prospects. They subsequently released
Manifesta Superbia through this label in 2005. The label did nothing to promote the band, no tours were scheduled, which resulted in very poor sales for that album.
I've got
Manifest Superbia and on that album, their technical use of tremolo picking sounds incredible. It sounds sort of like
Taake meets
Absu. I've also got Wargod
Domination, they split that album with
Nokturne. The 4 songs from
Noctifer sound great. Their approach on that album reminds me of the styles of
Immolith combined with
Orcivus. Their music sounded so grim and dark on that album, that it sounds like they are playing in the shadows of
Nokturne.
Each album that I've heard from
Noctifer sounds different, with their varied musical structures. But the hateful and angry mood, is always consistent in their music. They have every right to be pissed off, after being fucked around by the slacker executives at the labels who had signed them. So founding member, Regulus(drums), had the testicular fortitude, to take the bull by the horns, and start his own underground Black
Metal label. It's called Legionaria Produzioni.
The first album that was released by this label was
Noctifer's newest offering,
454 Anno Bastardi Domini. Which translates into
454 the year of bastard domain. This was meant to be a reference to the death of Flavio Ezio, who was the "last great General of the Roman
Empire." He was murdered for political power greed in
454 and the Roman
Empire fell 20 years later.
The first song, Pro
Patria Mori, shreds at a very fast tempo, with a melody, and song structure that sounds a lot like
Limbonic Art.
454 is a raw, angry, fast song, that sounds most comparable to
Mor Dagor.
Revenge In
Blood is a darker song, played at mid tempo. It sounds something like
Temple Of Baal. The lyrics are about hate and the art of killing. Bloody
Dawn seems to borrow the melodic start of
Mayhem's Freezing
Moon. Then it takes on another hateful turn, sounding again something like
Mor Dagor.
Nothing But A
Cross actually sounds a lot like
Dimmu Borgir, but there is hardly any symphonic music on this song. This song is about the unknown soldiers who died in Northern Italy during WWI. Most of these songs can be compared to
Temple Of Baal and
Mor Dagor, with an occasional song structure resembling
Limbonic Art.
This album was recorded at The Outer Sound Studios, in
Rome, which is regarded as one of the best studios in the region for extreme music. I miss the technical tremolo picking that characterized the album
Manifest Superbia. But I've got to give them credit for not trying to "repaint the Mona Lisa" half a dozen times, like some other metal bands(
Dark Funeral,
Vader) have tried to do. They come back each time with a different approach, which shows that they are true artists.
Rome is a city where artwork is omnipresent. They probably bump into murals and stumble over statues on their way to the nearby convenience store. I highly recommend this album and especially their last 2 albums. I don't think that they would be collecting much dust on your shelf.
A good band and a good album but a little bit overated. 19/20 it's really really too much !!!
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