I'm not sure if its taboo to cite other writers/journalists here, but I do need to give credit where credit is due. A month or so ago, I heard of the band Nightfell because of a write-up about them from the great "Grim" Kim Kelly. I checked out the band and enjoyed what I heard, but there wasn't much more available to listen to. When I saw this album as an option, I jumped at the chance to give it a listen, and I was not disappointed. Nightfell is a 2 piece Death/doom band from Portland, Oregon, and this is their first full length.

Opening track, The Last Disease begins with a nice melodic passage. After about 40 seconds the drums kick in, and the song starts going. There is certainly a great groove in the doom here. The vocals are growl/screamed, and have a really nice old school sound. Meaning that they do not sound over produced or "polished". The main riff being played in the track is really catchy, and the drums are great to head bang to. The track does pick up a little past the half way point, and has a great guitar lead before everything drops out, and we are left with drums, and a real thick bass line before the song kicks back in. The song goes back and forth between the faster and slower sections, and it works really well. The next track is a short, atmospheric interlude that works as a nice transition into the next track, I Am Decay.

I Am Decay follows a similar idea as the opening track, with some great catchy drums, and a wonderful main riff. The vocals again are growled, and maintain that raw, natural feeling. There are some faster sections in the track again, with some great drumming and guitar work, and a great bass to back it all up, and really add that extra punch. The song does slow down quite a bit around the 3:20 minute mark, and becomes a really crushing doom track, while never losing any melody in the heaviness. The track really stand out on the album in general, but especially for the main riff. It's so damn memorable. The following track, Empty Prayers brings in some funeral doom elements in the beginning with the synth/keyboard work, and overall eerie, downtrodden feel. Once the other instruments kick in, the track sounds even more dark, and while still having a great groove, it is really slower, and darker sounding than prior tracks. The track also features some nice clean vocals as well, adding to the feeling of despair I get from the track. The vocals are clean, but deep, and really fit well to the music, and of course this change really stands out on the record. The song doesn't provide much in the way of changes, or variety in the writing like the prior tracks do, but it is still a well done song, that really adds a different feeling to the album that the prior tracks did.

The next track, The Hollowing kicks things back up a bit with a fast paced intro, that while still fitting to the albums overall sound, could be welcome on a black metal album too. The song keeps up the pace, and the vocals are back to the harsh style, and while I enjoyed the clean vocals, the harsh vocals really fit and add a lot to the record. The riffs are again, very well done and memorable.The drumming stays fast but groove oriented, and the bass really gets a work out in the track as well. The track does slow a bit around the 4:40 minute mark, with the drumming up front amidst some spoken word vocals and synth, guitar lines in the background. It's a very interesting addition to the album, and it works very well. The next song is another interlude track, but does have some clean and harsh vocals, and some almost tribal sounding music. It leads into the penultimate track Altars to Wrath.

On the second to last track, we go back to more of a doom sound on the music, but it doesn't take too long for the pace to pick up again. The track itself is fairly similar to The Hollowing to me and doesn't really stand out too much. Sadly, I don't find much about the track to be too interesting, but it is not a bad song by any means, but probably the weakest on the record. Now, we have our final track, and also the longest on the album, Funeral Dirge. It begins with some somber melodic lines, before kicking in to the heaviness again. Again, we have a bit of a faster pace to the track, but more doom sounding than the prior couple of tracks. As is the case on the entire album, the riffs on the song are great, and everything has a very catchy groove. The song writing on this album is some of the strongest I've heard in some time. The track does slow a bit near the halfway mark, and eventually more or less fades away to only drums, bass and vocals. That does not last too long before the guitar kicks back in, and continues to impress. This track does something that I comment about a lot: the final song actually feels like a climax, and way to tie everything up. It works perfectly to bring a sense of finality, while showing various elements of the bands ability. For a final track, this hits the mark in every way.

This is a damn strong debut album. There really isn't anything bad about it, just one track that is maybe a little too similar to another, but that is a very small complaint. The song writing on the album is still very strong track for track, and everything works together very well. The Personal highlight for me is in the guitar work, which is some of the best I've heard in this style all year. Check out the track I Am Decay here and check out the actual album once it becomes available (the last update I could find was "Sometime in May 2014").