Nightfell – A Sanity Deranged (Review)

This is the third album from Nightfall, a US death/doom Metal band.

2014’s The Living Ever Mourn and 2015’s Darkness Evermore were both notable for their character and quality. Unlike the short gap between those two albums, however, we have had to wait considerably longer for A Sanity Deranged. I confess I have been looking forward to hearing this quite a lot.

A Sanity Deranged is a rich and multifaceted journey spread out across a scant 35 minutes. What the album lacks in quantity, however, it more than makes up for in quality.

Taking an old-school death metal base, steeped in melody and darkness, the band weave doom, black, and post-metal elements into their sound with the skill of master craftsmen. The songwriting seems stronger than ever, and each track here has something to offer the listener, both individually and holistically as the album flows through its playing time.

The music is steeped in emotion and atmospheric mood, yet Nightfell still know how to bring the heaviness when they need to. These songs are both forceful and delicate, indulging a desire to crush, while also injecting real heart and emotional presence into the music at the same time. The end result is a tightrope walked between the two, and it seems that the band have no balance issues.

This is dark music, embracing negative emotions and fashioning them into music that has depth, substance, and longevity woven into it at its core. Nightfell have created a special album here, and it has definitely been worth the wait. Just as Darkness Evermore improved on The Living Ever Mourn, so does A Sanity Deranged improve on Darkness Evermore.

Yes, this one is quite special, and I urge you to give this many, many listens.