The Nightstalker is an atmospheric dark / black metal from Belgium formed in 2013 by guy who uses the pseudonym Sercati, in the world Steve Fabry. The Nightstalker have released three albums so far: Against the Anesthetist (2013), The Chronicles of Natural City (2014), and All for a Promise (2015). According to the information I received from Sercati, The Nightstalker is a one-man band, but according to the Facebook page and to the booklet of the CD, it is a quartet. All of these albums revolve around a special concept: the story of an angel, the Nightstalker exactly, who descends to Earth to help mankind. The story of the Nightstalker is the base concept of another band of Sercati, eponymously called Sercati; this band is twinned or perhaps a duplicate of The Nightstalker; the difference, if any, between these two bands is a bit unclear. Sercati is bassist and singer both in The Nightstalker and in Sercati, and the genre of these two bands used to be pretty similar, that is dark ambient / black metal. As far as I understood, these bands are linked one another. So you can understand that it is a bit confusing! First of all I would recommend The Nightstalker and Sercati to be clearer when delivering information for reviews.
Anyway, the new album by The Nightstalker, All for a Promise, is different from the previous albums by Sercati. First of all, we note a more professional approach than in the past; no more the raw (and perhaps bad) productions of the past, but a more painstaking and clean sound. From a musical standpoint, the compositions of Sercati are more wide-ranging. The black metal component and the distorted riffing were reduced, while there is a bigger deal of melody. I find that All for a Promise is much closer to gothic metal; piano and acoustic arpeggios show in my opinion influences from bands such as Lacrimosa and My Dying Bride.
This time the lyrics revolve around the struggle between the Nighstalker and Lucifer with changing fortunes; at the end, Lucifer rises a new army against the Nightstalker, but we will learn the outcome of the battle in the next installment of this saga, that will be perhaps revealed in the next album by The Nightstalker or Sercati.
All for a Promise is an album full of melancholy and displays artistic maturity and quite a personal style. It is a very good release not to be missed if you like gothic atmospheres. I hope to hear soon again from Sercati, and I hope that he differentiate more his bands in the future.
Notes:
Release date: April 18 2015 on Wolfshade Records. Mastermind Sercati has written a book about the Nightstalker, Le journal du Nightstalker, (‘The Diary of the Nightstalker). The latest release by the band Sercati is the EP In the Shadows of Sidewalks, 2015.
Tracklist:
1. But not in Me
2. Sergent Mattennen
3. Fight Under the Rain
4. The Purgatory
5. The Diversion 03:02
6. The Prisonners Eescape
7. I Miss Her
8. The Choice
9. In the Heart of Limbo
10. Army of Darkness
Personnel:
Steve "Serpent" Fabry: bass, vocals
Yannick Martin: drum programming, backing vocals
Jean Christophe Dechesne: rhythmic guitar
Olivier Clément: lead guitar
Text by Herjann
[email protected]
Anyway, the new album by The Nightstalker, All for a Promise, is different from the previous albums by Sercati. First of all, we note a more professional approach than in the past; no more the raw (and perhaps bad) productions of the past, but a more painstaking and clean sound. From a musical standpoint, the compositions of Sercati are more wide-ranging. The black metal component and the distorted riffing were reduced, while there is a bigger deal of melody. I find that All for a Promise is much closer to gothic metal; piano and acoustic arpeggios show in my opinion influences from bands such as Lacrimosa and My Dying Bride.
This time the lyrics revolve around the struggle between the Nighstalker and Lucifer with changing fortunes; at the end, Lucifer rises a new army against the Nightstalker, but we will learn the outcome of the battle in the next installment of this saga, that will be perhaps revealed in the next album by The Nightstalker or Sercati.
All for a Promise is an album full of melancholy and displays artistic maturity and quite a personal style. It is a very good release not to be missed if you like gothic atmospheres. I hope to hear soon again from Sercati, and I hope that he differentiate more his bands in the future.
Notes:
Release date: April 18 2015 on Wolfshade Records. Mastermind Sercati has written a book about the Nightstalker, Le journal du Nightstalker, (‘The Diary of the Nightstalker). The latest release by the band Sercati is the EP In the Shadows of Sidewalks, 2015.
Tracklist:
1. But not in Me
2. Sergent Mattennen
3. Fight Under the Rain
4. The Purgatory
5. The Diversion 03:02
6. The Prisonners Eescape
7. I Miss Her
8. The Choice
9. In the Heart of Limbo
10. Army of Darkness
Personnel:
Steve "Serpent" Fabry: bass, vocals
Yannick Martin: drum programming, backing vocals
Jean Christophe Dechesne: rhythmic guitar
Olivier Clément: lead guitar
Text by Herjann
[email protected]