1376 - Nocturnal Rites Lay of Еnnui 1995

Nocturnal Rites initially consisted of Fredrik Mannberg (guitar/vocals) and Tommy Eriksson (drums), who then hired bassist Nils Eriksson. Following their change of style from death to power metal, the band hired vocalist Anders Zackrisson, whose voice was more adapted than Fredrik Mannberg's to the new songs. Tommy Eriksson was soon after replaced by Ulf Andersson. The band also added a second guitarist, Mikael Söderström. By this time they had fully evolved into the Helloween-style power metal sound of their first three albums. "In A Time Of Blood And Fire" is galloping, triumphant heavy metal. This was released during metal's darkest hour, when the forerunners of all heavy music were out of ideas (Sabbath, Helloween) or suffering serious line-up problems (Maiden, Priest). The strongest song on here is "Lay of Ennui", both for it's vocal performance and the guitar work. Fredrik Mannberg does a decent job on here and gives us a rather intricant solo at the intro.