Nocturnal Rites is a Swedish

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band formed in 1990.

Biography

The band started off under the name ''Necronomic'' playing

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

, as can be heard on their demo (''The Obscure'', 1991). This attracted some independent labels' attention, but they turned them down in the hope of a better opportunity. On the two-track promo that was recorded in 1992, their style had evolved into a slightly more

melodic A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

-influenced sound. The band initially consisted of Fredrik Mannberg (guitar and vocals) and Tommy Eriksson (drums), who then hired bassist Nils Eriksson. Following their change of style, the band hired vocalist Anders Zackrisson, whose voice was more adapted than Fredrik Mannberg's to

. Tommy Eriksson was soon after replaced by Ulf Andersson. The band also added a second guitarist, Mikael Söderström. By this time they had fully evolved into the

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weik ...

-style

sound of their first three albums. In 1994, the band signed with Swedish label Dark Age, and the first album ''In a Time of Blood and Fire'' was released in collaboration with Megarock Records in 1995. After this, guitarist Mikael Söderström decided to leave the band and was replaced by Nils Norberg. Despite being a replacement for the band's

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

ist, Norberg became their

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

player, with Mannberg switching almost entirely to rhythm from then on. The second album, ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'', was first released in Japan in late 1997. It was released in Europe in March 1998 on

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. The band toured Europe with Overkill and Angel Dust. The third album, ''The Sacred Talisman'' was released in 1999 and featured a new drummer, Owe Lingvall due to a leg injury of Ulf Andersson. The album entered the Japanese charts at No. 83. Only 2 weeks after the release, the band toured Europe with

Nevermore Nevermore was an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. The band has been inactive since 2011, due to personal issues between the band members. In April 2015, lead singer Warrel Dane confirmed that Nevermore had n ...

Morgana Lefay Morgana Lefay (known as Damage from 1986 until 1989) is a Swedish power/thrash metal band from Bollnäs. It is named after Morgan Le Fay of the Arthurian cycle. History Morgana Lefay independently released their first album, ''Symphony of t ...

and Sacred Steel and participated in Open air festivals such as 1999's Dynamo festival. After this, singer Anders Zackrisson was replaced by former Mogg frontman Jonny Lindqvist, a former bandmate of Owe Lingvall. His voice was quite different from his predecessor's, which gave the band a new face on their next album, ''Afterlife'', released in 2000. The band then toured Europe once again with

Iron Savior Iron Savior is a German power metal band that was formed in Hamburg in 1996. Following a period of several years working behind the scenes in music production, multi-instrumentalist and producer/engineer Piet Sielck joined with former Helloween ...

. 2004 saw the release of the album ''New World Messiah'', followed by a six-week tour with

Edguy Edguy is a heavy metal band formed in Fulda, Germany in 1992. History Demos, AFM years (1992–2003) Edguy was founded in 1992 by 14-year-old students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dominik Storch and Dirk Sauer. The name "Edguy" was an affecti ...

and Brainstorm. Two videos were also released in December, ''Awakening'' and ''Against the World'', both of them produced by drummer Owe Lingvall. In 2005, the 10th anniversary was celebrated with the re-release of the two first albums and some bonus material on the ''Lost in Time'' double CD. The band also played a live show, ''Demons at the Opera'' with a 55-piece

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

at the

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Ume� ...

Opera House. A documentary about the show was broadcast on Swedish national television. The album ''

Grand Illusion Grand Illusion may refer to: Music * ''Grand Illusion'' (album), by Nocturnal Rites, 2005 *'' The Grand Illusion'', a 1977 album by Styx, and its title song *"Grand Illusion", a song from the 2016 album '' In the Now'' by Barry Gibb *"Grand Illu ...

'', out in 2006, featured many special guests, including

Jens Johansson Jens Ola Johansson (born 2 November 1963 in Stockholm) is a Swedish keyboardist and pianist who currently plays in the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius and Ritchie Blackmore's rock project Rainbow. He is notable for his high-speed neoclas ...

(

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

), Henrik Danhage (

Evergrey Evergrey is a Swedish progressive metal band from Gothenburg. History Evergrey was formed in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden as a progressive power metal band, in contrast to the melodic death metal that Gothenburg is known for. Since then, the band ...

), Kristoffer W. Olivius (

Naglfar In Norse mythology, ''Naglfar'' or ''Naglfari'' (Old Norse "nail farer") is a boat made entirely from the fingernails and toenails of the dead. During the events of Ragnarök, ''Naglfar'' is foretold to sail to Vígríðr, ferrying hordes of ...

Stefan Elmgren Stefan Elmgren (born 17 May 1974) is the former guitarist of the Swedish power metal band HammerFall from 1997 to 2008. History Before becoming a member of HammerFall, he was the guitarist in the band Highlander. Elmgren has also worked with his s ...

(

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial ...

), and, more surprisingly, the Swedish world champion of

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

(three times world cup gold winner),

Per Elofsson Per Eilert Elofsson (born 2 April 1977 in Röbäck, Västerbotten) is a Swedish former cross-country skier who competed from 1997 to 2004. He won a bronze medal in the 10 km + 10 km combined pursuit at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt ...

, who comes from the same town as the band,

. The band also toured with such acts as

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...

Gamma Ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...

and

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

, and played in festivals such as

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

, Sweden Rock, Gates of Metal, etc. A new studio album, '' The 8th Sin'', was released in 2007. Nils Norberg left the band the following year due to personal reasons. He was replaced by Christoffer Rörland. Mannberg and Erikson are also members of the thrash metal band Guillotine, and Rörland has joined

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot. History Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes o ...

as of 2012. On 29 September 2017 Nocturnal Rites released their first new album in 10 years titled ''Phoenix''. The album cover artwork was created by

Claudio Bergamin Claudio Bergamin is a Chilean/Italian fantasy artist. He creates album covers for rock bands and book covers for paranormal authors. Artwork Bergamin's style is realistic fantasy illustration. He has created artwork for a wide number of rock a ...

Personnel

Current * Jonny Lindqvist – vocals (2000–present) * Per Nilsson – lead guitars (2017–present) * Fredrik Mannberg – guitars (1990–present), vocals (1990–1993) * Nils Eriksson – bass (1990–present) * Owe Lingvall – drums (1998–present) Former * Anders Zackrisson – vocals (1993–2000) * Mikael Söderström – guitars (1992–1997) * Nils Norberg – lead guitars (1997–2008) * Christoffer Rörland – lead guitars (2008–2012) * Ulf Andersson – drums (1992–1998) * Tommy Eriksson – drums (1990–1992) * Mattais Bernhardsson – keyboards (1995–1998, session) (1999–2003)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:90 top:10 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1990 till:06/01/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:guitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:guitar2 value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:album value:black legend:Album Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1990 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1990 BarData = bar:Anders text:"Anders Zackrisson" bar:Jonny text:"Jonny Lindqvist" bar:Fredrik text:"Fredrik Mannberg" bar:Mikael text:"Mikael Söderström" bar:NilsN text:"Nils Norberg" bar:Christoffer text:"Christoffer Rörland" bar:Per text:"Per Nilsson" bar:NilsE text:"Nils Eriksson" bar:Tommy text:"Tommy Eriksson" bar:Ulf text:"Ulf Andersson" bar:Owe text:"Owe Lingvall" bar:Mattais text:"Mattais Bernhardsson PlotData = width:11 bar:Anders from:03/01/1993 till:02/01/2000 color:vocals bar:Jonny from:02/01/2000 till:end color:vocals bar:Fredrik from:start till:02/01/1997 color:guitar bar:Fredrik from:start till:09/01/1992 color:guitar2 width:7 bar:Fredrik from:start till:03/01/1993 color:vocals width:3 bar:Fredrik from:02/01/1997 till:02/08/2012 color:guitar2 bar:Fredrik from:02/08/2012 till:02/01/2017 color:guitar bar:Fredrik from:02/08/2012 till:02/01/2017 color:guitar2 width:3 bar:Fredrik from:02/01/2017 till:end color:guitar2 bar:Mikael from:09/01/1992 till:02/01/1997 color:guitar2 bar:NilsN from:02/01/1997 till:05/01/2008 color:guitar bar:Christoffer from:05/01/2008 till:02/08/2012 color:guitar bar:Per from:02/01/2017 till:end color:guitar bar:NilsE from:start till:end color:bass bar:Tommy from:start till:09/01/1992 color:drums bar:Ulf from:09/01/1992 till:06/01/1998 color:drums bar:Owe from:06/01/1998 till:end color:drums bar:Mattais from:01/01/1995 till: 12/31/1998 color:keyboards width:3 bar:Mattais from:01/01/1999 till: 01/01/2003 color:keyboards LineData = layer:back color:album at:06/01/1995 at:02/18/1998 at:05/11/1999 at:11/13/2000 at:05/27/2002 at:03/24/2004 at:01/24/2006 at:07/06/2007 at:09/29/2017

Discography

Studio albums

Music videos

* ''Eyes of the Dead'' (2002) * ''Awakening'' (2004) * ''Avalon'' (2004) * ''Against the World'' (2004) * ''Fools Never Die'' (2005) * ''Still Alive'' (2005) * ''Never Again'' (2007) * ''A Heart as Black as Coal'' (2017) * ''Repent My Sins'' (2017) * ''The Ghost Inside Me'' (unreleased) (2017) * ''Before We Waste Away'' (2019)

Other

* ''Lost in Time – The Early Years of Nocturnal Rites'' (Best-of/Compilation, 2005) * ''Nocturnal Rites/Falconer – Split'' (2005)

External links

*
Nils Eriksson interviewed
by ''Highwire Daze'' (2006) {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1990 Swedish power metal musical groups Century Media Records artists