Daughters of the Night

I could tell straight away that Nocturna were a side project of Frozen Crown’s Federico Mondelli even if I hadn’t known the real identity of his pseudonym Hedon; his far-off, lonely-sounding riff style is so individual it might as well be trademarked, and those riffs are all over this album, despite its posturing as a symphonic metal release. Nocturna is the second side gig he’s produced for Scarlet, the first being the sinful snooze fest that is Volturian, and this one came about completely unnoticed, as I only just got wind of it now. Nocturna is really just a vehicle for Federico to pedal two unknown but rather talented ladies in Grace Darkling and Rehn Stillnight, who share vocal duties here, and make ‘Daughters Of The Night’ a Frozen Crown taking on Coronatus sort of deal.

These girls bewitch us with their intertwining sopranos in a luscious siren song that brings the more melancholic moments of ‘Century Child’ to mind, and that manages to separate this from Federico’s other works, even though the melodic choices here, everything from the riffs to the vocal lines, are pure Frozen Crown. There is less reliance on speed and more on atmosphere, creating a dark, romantic vibe that is new for him, and with more pianos and keys than you’ll find on albums like ‘Crowned In Frost’ and ‘The Fallen King’, this tries really hard to hit a Nightwish/Xandria kind of vibe. It pretty much gets there on tunes like ‘The Sorrow Path’ and ‘The Trickster’, but the faster songs are where its at, with blasting opener ‘New Evil’ slamming out of the speakers with a dark, pugilistic power metal sound that reminds me a hell of a lot of the best cuts on ‘The Fallen King’. ‘Blood Of Heaven’ is another power metal killer, and the title track offers plenty of double kicking and soaring melodies, too. The rest of the tracks aren’t as good, with ‘Sea Of Fire’ starting with some cool riffs but relying on clichéd melodies from his newfound starlets, and the same issues plague ‘In This Tragedy’.

The production is brickwalled to fuck and sounds massive, and the girls give great performances, but this often sounds like rejected and underdeveloped cuts from ‘Crowned In Frost’, and if there’s anything to be said of Rehn and Grace, it’s that they aren’t Jade Etro, and we all know Federico’s riffs and her vocals go together like peanut butter and jelly. But then again, at less than forty minutes, this is easily digestible, and so for fans of Frozen Crown who can’t get enough, this is a catchy symphonic power metal album with enough fast stuff to satisfy, and at least it’s better than Volturian by a country mile.