Metal Debate Album Review - Of Sorcery And Darkness (Nocturna)

The Great Metal Debate Podcast

Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast, today looking at the new release from Italian symphonic metal act Nocturna, back with their sophomore album Of Sorcery And Darkness. Nocturna is fronted by the insanely talented vocal duo of Grace Darkling and Ren Stillnight. You can listen to my Metal Debate review of Nocturna’s 2022 debut to hear my explication for how these brilliant singers work so well together. The other band go by pseudonyms, but for our purposes we can dispense with the legerdemain - Nocturna is another in a line of projects associated with Italian guitar mastermind Federico Mondelli. Overall my take on this album is largely positive with a few criticisms. To see what I mean, let’s dig into the tracks individually… The band start in a blaze with the first song "Burn The Witch.” It’s a very nice offering including a solid guitar solo; one that has grown on my ear with successive listens. Track two is “Sapphire,” demonstrating all the things they do best – the choral vocal melody is amazing, and the riffing is smart and efficient. Darkling’s voice is like a fine red wine – with just the right mix of dark aroma and deliciously bitterness. The choral harmony is exquisite and at the end where the instrumentation drops out and you hear just to the two melded voices we find perfection. “Noctis Avern” brings a barrage of guitar and percussion, and a smart structure that keeps you guessing where the song is going next. I really like the bridge portion with its soft approach that sets up the cacophonous chorus. “Creatures Of Darkness” is similarly fast paced with Darkling coming in first on vocals followed by Stillnight, and then the two harmonizing on the chorus. I didn’t think the chorus quite lived up to the rest of the song – not bad at all but just failing to kick things up a notch as one might want. “Midnight Sun” begins with a beautifully harmony. I like the tasteful, harmonic-heavy solo by Mondelli, followed by some impassioned singing by Darkling, and then concluding with he same harmonizing of the singers from the beginning. Midway through finds an eerie if brief piece “First Disobedience.” We have the sound of crows in the background, whispered male vocals, and orchestral atmosphere. This is basically just an intro into the next track “Seven Sins,” and it works fairly well in that capacity. “Seven Sins” has a bouncy cadence to it overtop the pounding double bass drums. Mondelli’s solo incorporates a nice bit of the track’s melody. “Through The Maze” features gorgeous operatic highs by Stillnight. There’s a lot going on here with good variation in tempo and contrasting undistorted guitar followed by more aggressive ax-work. The melody throughout is one of the best on the album. Next up is “Strangers” which is up tempo and features an octave-change from our singers mid-chorus. The final track “Last Day On Earth” ends the album on a high note, with a good mix of softness and aggression, and another great through-melody. I’m often critical of abrupt song endings, but this one is done to perfection leaving a feeling of completion yet still wanting more. As a whole I’m impressed with the captivating melodies, uplifting symphonic scoring, strong guitarwork, and mostly the stellar singing of Stillnight and Darkling. I can’t sing the praises of these two enough. Overall, Of Sorcery And Darkness has an elegant, sometimes mysterious vibe which shows off the brilliance and charisma of the band. If I have an overarching criticism of this album, it is that Mondelli doesn’t fully unleash the potential he has at his hands with Darkling and Stillnight. Perhaps I’m just greedy, but I’m not sure the potential of their coupling has been reached yet. Of Sorcery And Darkness is a great amalgam of symphonic/gothic metal songs which features two of the strongest singers in the current metal scene. I’m giving it a rating of 9 out of 10. Of Sorcery And Darkness is released April 19th from Scarlet Records.