State of Emergency

Nitevigil is one of those awesome obscure bands of the 80s that while exhibiting commercial tinges in certain regards - appearance, some vocal edges for example, are in fact totally legit heavy metal with balls. It’s a thing you encounter rarely, for example with bands like Maxx Warrior, Luv Hunter, or perhaps most noticeably Leatherwolf, or Banshee. While Nitevigil’s photos, and perhaps even their song titles might lead one to consider them part of the melodic, commercial edged ‘metal’ acts of the latter part of the 80s, their sound is actually more of a confident, even heavy hitting, speedy US form of heavy, with some of the more girlish lustre of cool bands like Maxx Warrior, Banshee, or Ratt. This is a nice wee slice of energetic, exuberant heavy metal that doesn’t fall into that saturated over-cliched, saccharine rock scene of the 80s/90s period that fed off the ballsy legitimate and crushing legit heavy metal of contemporary bands.

This nifty little cassette kicks of with an intro section which you'd think sounds similar to a thousand USPM type acts from the period; dark, thunderin', stormy - let's say Oblivion or Oliver Magnum. As soon as the vocalist kicks in, and the punchy, hooky choruses kick in, it's apparent we have something a bit different on offer here. This little number can be said to sum up the coolness that is 'Vigil - a musically talented, solid songwriting outfit, that manages to blend in a solid little concoction; glammy beauty, with punchin' aggression - in perhaps the best way I've heard since Maxx Warrior or the Motley Crue debut. This little subgenre isn't an easy one to get right - I don't hear it talked about at all, but it's a nifty oddity that I have a solid fondness for, and more importantly, would love to see more of. The title track is a slow pounder, with nifty leads and guitar licks, passionate vocals, legit lyrics that continues the perfect blend of girlish, high-polished commercial glitter, with enough punch and effective drum thunderin' to satisfy those no-nonsense old school metal fans. The more i hear it, the better. Nitevigil again proves they're not a candy-ass outfit, as with the third track 'Outta My Mind', they continue their brilliant mixture of beauty and glamour, with tough, ballsy USPM crunch. 'Break the Ice' is your ballsy, fast-runnin' NWOBHM pacer to cap things off with the 'tude. Again, 'Vigil just exudes a clear, strongly directed blend of catchy polish, with enough toughness for the classic metal poseur-killers out there. Just really fun, down-the middle run-n-gun stuff. Riffs are thunderin' NWOBHM styled fare with bands like Samurai and Savage from across the Atlantic springing to mind.

With this obscure little cassette, Nitevigil crafts a handful of neat little numbers that offer up a great vocalist, in the style of a young Vince Neil, and as importantly - really great guitars that manage to balance things between the glitz and the power without sledging back into blues driven crud like so many commercially edged imitators of the time. Since dick all is known about Nitevigil, that i could find, It's unknown what the boys' vibe was - were they goin' after that early 'Crue vibe and gunnin' for that sort of commercial direction, or more likely, as i suspect, were they a meeting of musicians with somewhat diverging tastes that managed to pull it off and come up with a special little offering that exhibits a rather stellar blending of influences as a result. The production job seems to be focused on the heavier side - things are quite rough, pounding and bassy, but their excellently beautiful vocalist, and a good degree of the melodies come off as almost glam metallic. Either way, i haven't heard a good band in this style in the year or two since I've come across it. Definitely worth checkin out. Especially if you like Skull Fist.