Band:	Nocturnal Torment
Album:	They Come At Night
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	February 09, 2012
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Vile Affliction
02. Alternative Reality
03. Cycle Of Life
04. Fresh Flesh Fetish
05. Bleeding
06. Sweet Decay
07. Forever Eternal Darkness
08. They Come At Night
09. Primordial Existence

Well, here's a cute little death metal album. "Cute" probably isn't the description they were going for, as They Come At Night is pretty dark and vicious, but it's an album that is an enjoyable little death metal treat despite being what is essentially a pretty generic album.

What makes "cute" is that there isn't a focus on sounding as massive as possible, or any sort of over emphasis on heavy production to compensate for un-heavy riffs. Nope, it's crusty, fairly "small" sounding with solid guitar work. The riffs are catchy and evil sounding, with just the right amount of rawness to it. It brings to mind early Bloodbath, though slightly more aggressive & brutal, with a heavier focus on the drums. In fact, scratch what I said about this album not sounding massive - the guitar work is fast, sparse and crusty sounding, while the drums are just heavy as shit, being massive sounding in their own right.

Not long ago, in what was probably a brief lapse into sobriety, [user_id]4365[/user_id] spoke of the idea of personal enjoyment versus the recognition of artistic merit. The idea of either A) Disliking an album but recognizing the talent of the artists and the creativity behind their work, or B) Liking an album but accepting the fact that it really lacks any significance on a creative level. That really applies here. When it comes right down to it, Nocturnal Torment are a fairly uncreative celebration in old school death metal, but there's something really charming about their simplicity.

Taking into account both approaches to They Come At Night, it's a fun bit of death metal, even if it is a little stale, with little replay value.