Well, my eyes are not deceiving me, Nightrage really are at, are close, or are around their twentieth year in existence since the 2003 debut of Sweet Vengeance. In that time Nightrage have carved out their own spot on Mount Metal and firmly planted their flag of Melodic Death. And while it may have taken some time to get momentum going, the band is in the midst of their most consistent era brought on by a near solidified core of members Marios (guitars), Ronnie (vocals), and Magnus (guitars). With founder and riff creator Marios crafting the heavy and melodic guitar lines, the chemistry amongst the rest of the band comes through in making the songs come to life.

When Nightrage debuted on the scene, Swedish Melodic Death metal was in the last bit of peak popularity. North American metalcore was hitting its stride and was rife with borrowed Gothenburg riffs and licks. Having well known former At The Gates singer Tomas Lindberg front the band for the first two albums certainly helped solidify their pedigree in the genre. This was even before Soundtrack To Your Escape by In Flames was released, which to me was the real beginning of the end of the glory days. The metalcore boom of the aughts helped prolong the life of heavy licks and tasty melodies but eventually this style of music really fell by the wayside. Meaning, in 2022, much like people playing classic games, Swedish Melodic Death is mainly performed at a high level by passionate participants. In trying to find out the full credits to Abyss Rising it looks like this album was at least mixed and mastered at Studio Fredman. The guitar tones and production in general sounds similar to super producer Niklas Fredman's work so I'm going to assume this was recorded there too. If this wasn't, then it must mean Marios took pretty good notes when recording past Nightrage albums there and brought those tones and production values with him.

This is likely Nightrage's most melodic album. The bulk of the tracks here are relatively mid tempo (for them) and this allows for lead lines to be stretched out and given breathing room. There are several songs with rather somber and dare I say it, delicate intros. In fact, the intro to Dance Of Cerberus sounds like it could definitely be grown into a full blown instrumental. When I first listened to this album I thought this was the acoustic ballad instrumental, but alas it's not. There's actually three instrumentals, one an interlude track and two that are essentially some melancholic and wistful lead guitar playing with minimal backing to them. Swallow Me (nothing sexual) has an interesting bass technique that reminds me of some of the stuff that Markus Grosskopf did on Walls Of Jericho. 9th Circle Of Hell utilizes a cascading type of guitar intro that harkens back to the Gothenburg days of old. The following acoustic passages in the verses are reminiscent of some of the better moments of the landmark Whoracle album. The solo section is a huge highlight here both reminding the listener of the beauty of melodic aggression. Shadows Embrace Me is the longest one here clocking in at a little over four minutes. This "extra" time is spent on building up the intro from a quiet intro into a full bodied guitar led roar and has a most triumphant main riff. Seeing as how Abyss Rising is not quite forty minutes in full, this means the tracks come fast and quick and are leaned out in their structure. Ideas are concise and compact and there isn't much room for uninspired noodling.

While there is a small group of musicians still carrying on with the classic 90's Gothenburg sound, Nightrage stands alone for the most part. Heavyweights such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and Soilwork have evolved into much different entities to varying degrees of success. But their evolutions took them away from the sounds that Nightrage are quite adept at making. Instead of being seen as a latecomer to the scene in the early 2000's, Nightrage are now one of the few that's left. Abyss Rising serves as a rather nice melodic companion piece to the highly aggressive Wolf To Man.