Band:	Nicta
Album:	Let The Darkness Welcome You
Style:	Melodic power metal
Release date:	April 2005
A review by:	wrathchild

01. Millenary Order
02. In Embryo
03. Let Us Suffer
04. The Night I Fell
05. Manchurian Candidates

"Extreme power metal" or "power metal with harsh vocals"... I guess "blackened power metal" will best describe Nicta's music as they mix power metal and black metal elements. This 3rd demo - actually a mini CD - is said to illustrate the mix even better than their previous efforts.

The band insists that the keyboard is an essential part of their music. This element is required to render a "grandiose" and "horrific" atmosphere even though that's true those keyboard parts may sound too bright and far from black metal, as well as the drums, and also the vocals (growls, harsh, clean and even female vocals)... The guitars are great, delivering awesome solos. Still, Nicta manages to create a dark atmosphere clearly different from what power metal usually offers.
Every song on this CD has a complex and coherent structure gathering all the various pieces of the Nicta puzzle.
The production is very good. It may be a bit flat (especially some keyboard passage) but you can't expect the finest production from a self-produced record. Some vocal parts could probably be improved, but their variety highly compensates for this.

"Let The Darkness Welcome You" is for open-minded listeners and those who appreciate non-linear songs and grat musicianship. Maybe going one step further into black metal could be a good thing for Nicta to strengthen their music which is really promising.