somehow i slept on the release of this gem right here. nocturnus were part of the massive earache records roster in the early nineties, where this fine u.k. label gathered the slickest bands from europe and across the pond. bolt thrower, morbid angel, entombed or godflesh just to name drop a few. and among them there was a band called nocturnus and their debut record called "the key".
a mixture of oldschool (back then not so oldschool actually) death metal, progressive death metal and sci-fi lyrics. something new and very well executed. mike browning, the mastermind of nocturnus reformed the band in 2013 as nocturnus ad with the plan to pick up where nocturnus left off with "the key". well, almost thirty years after the debut's release the new album "paradox" finally saw the light of day - and i missed it. when i got news all the colour vinyl was already gone. i am pretty well networked when it comes to new vinyl releases, but that one slipped through my fingers.
so i waited for a re-press which came sooner than i anticipated. i am a bit bummed that this clear green/black mix vinyl is one of those that look almost black when not held against a light source which is quite lame. well, beggars can't be choosers and musically "paradox" is at least as strong as "the key" in my humble opinion. not pure gold (which "the key" wasn't as well by the way) but a damn strong return to form. 100 copies made. profound lore records. 2019.
