Night Demon: Darkness Remains (2017)

Honestly, my tastes have been evolving in recent years.  I have noticed it.  I am less and less interested in the extreme metal genres than I used to be and much more into the more traditional styles.  Thrash metal is still my personal favorite, but metal owing its roots to bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are more and more appealing to me.  So it was with great interest that I jumped on this release, particularly after seeing others rave about it.

Night Demon has been making some waves in the underground metal scene since releasing their debut EP in 2012.  This is their second full-length album and it was subject to a lot of hype.  The band is truly a rising star among the other traditional metal bands.  The style has been enjoying a resurgence over the last decade or so. 

The band definitely wears their Maiden influence on their sleeve and the song "Maiden Hell" is Exhibit A in that.  That song references a ton of Maiden songs and their career in general.  Other than that, there are of course the galloping riffing style, heavy bass, and smooth and clean vocals.  There is also the visual aesthetic with the horror-influenced cover art.

But the album is not all Iron Maiden references.  Night Demon does forge their own identity, even if their sound is fairly derivative of other bands.  They do just enough to stand out from the pack of other trad-metal bands.  And they can definitely write some damn catchy hooks.