Night Demon: Year of the Demon

Night Demon are a veteran act out of southern California that play that ever so delightful strain of traditional metal that conjures images of scruffy long hairs with leather vests, chains, and aviator glasses. American shimmering hooks meet NWOBHM riffs and attitude in Year of the Demon, a compilation of sorts that collects Night Demon's most recent limited-release singles along with some of the accompanying live tracks to sweeten the pot. The pot didn't need any honey however, my friends. Honestly, they could have just kept this to a 5 or so track EP and I'd be pleased as punch, but I suppose I'll take one for the team and rock out to some live covers. What else do I have going on, really?

So, to actually clarify what we have here; Year of the Demon takes all of the band's 2020 covid-era limited edition singles and combines them into one easy and actually acquirable package. The original tracks (and the namesakes of most of the vinyl releases themselves) are all fantastic. These songs are largely uptempo and are chock full of memorable riffs and vocal melodies. "Empires Fall" has a more modern approach than the other tracks, with thunderous double bass drums and harmonized lead guitars that lead into traditional "wooah-oh-oh!" chants in the chorus. The main riff to "Kill the Pain" is just instant headbang fodder, with it's swinging groove and stompy rhythm. "Are You Out There" deserves special mention as well, sounding something like the turbo charged love child of Riot and Thin Lizzy.

All of the original tracks really deliver the kind of meat and potatoes traditional Metal that anyone into the genre should be able to get behind. The cover tracks are largely well done too (Uli Jon Roth actually guests on the two live Scorpions covers), but after the onslaught of pristine true heavy metal that erupts from the speakers on tracks 1-4, I must admit I found myself skipping back to the beginning on repeated listens. Nothing wrong with a good Maiden or Cirith Ungol cover, but I'd rather listen to the original source. I bet a Night Demon superfan would get a kick out of those, though.

If you like traditional metal in any capacity, you absolutely owe it to yourself to check out at least the four original tracks on Year of the Demon. There is nothing to dislike about any of those scorchers, and they serve as a great introduction to the band. Stick around for the fluff if you like, but this compilation is worth the price of admission even if you ignore the back half of the release. Horns up!

Tracklist:
1. Empires Fall
2. Kill the Pain
3. Are You Out There
4. Vysteria
5. In Trance (Scorpions cover, live)
6. Fast Bikes (LeGriffe cover)
7. 100 MPH (Cirith Ungol cover)
8. The Sun Goes Down (Thin Lizzy cover)
9. Wasted Years (Iron Maiden cover, live)
10. Top of the Bill (Scorpions cover, live)

Added: April 24th 2022
Reviewer: Brandon Miles
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 894
Language: english

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