Out Of The Dark

Nuclear Blast

Leave it to former Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers to strike gold yet again with his dynamic song writing skills. This time around he composed ten stellar cuts of mega metal proportions for the second installment of the Nuclear Blast Allstars compilation. Out of the Dark is the subsequtial follow up to Into The Light which was released back in June of this year. This very special project as did its predecessor features a different guest vocalist on each brutally searing track. Appearances include Anders Friden (In Flames), Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy), Jari Maenpaa (Wintersun), Christian Alvestam (Scar Symmetry), John Bush (ex-Anthrax), Bjorn “Speed” Strid (Soilwork), Maurizio Iacono (Kataklysm), Mark Osegueda (Death Angel), Richard Sjunnesson and Rolland Johansson (Sonic Syndicate), Guillaume Bideau (MNEMIC).

The music here is varied and seems to actually fit to each gust appearance as if the song were written specifically for each individual style. I did find it a tad odd that for an album that is celebrating 20 years of Nuclear Blast history none of the contributors have been around that long in fact most of the artists represented are relatively new with only a few having a tenure that actually reaches the ten year mark. All the same this is a must have for any diehard Metal fan; especially if you are fans of any of the artists on board.

My personal favorites include the very Black Metal sounding “Devotion” feat. Jari Maenpaa (Wintersun), “The Overshadowing” feat. Christian Alvestam (Scar Symmetry), “Paper Trail” feat. John Bush (ex-Anthrax) and “Cold Is My Vengeance” feat. Maurizio Iacono (Kataklysm). The package also contains a bonus disc with ten additional rare performances by more of the Nuclear Blast roster including “The Ancestral Fever” (Dimmu Borgir), “Tyrants” (Immortal) and “Replica” (Epica). Overall a very worthy addition to my collection and something that I will be spinning on a regular basis I’m sure.

-Priest