Only three months into the new year and traditional heavy metal is having one hell of a banner year. First there was Century in January bringing us their debut Sign of the Storm; in February came the streetwise and ripping Mean Mistreater with their second album Do Or Die. And now in March we have the big one: the furious blackened rock and roll heavy metal swagger of San Francisco’s Nite returning with album #3. Cult of the Serpent Sun embraces the spirit of denim and leather, of the NWOBHM and makes sure to inject some lethal dark majesty in its riffs and lyrics, taking the “heavy” part of heavy metal to its zenith. Goddamn do I love this album…

Formed in 2018 by members of Satan’s Wrath, Dawnbringer and High Spirits, it’s not surprising how thick Nite’s sound is with epic trad metal, considering the pedigree. And like their previous winner Voices of the Kronian Moon (reviewed over at Nine Circles) one of the standout components are the vocals of Van Labrakis, who also wields a mean guitar. It would be too easy to get a more common sounding clean vocalist to really pump up the anthemic qualities of the track, but I can’t imagine any other kind of voice rasping out a chorus like “Death! Death! Death! Death Eternal!” like he does on the opening title track. The rock swagger is perfectly balanced with a mean menace, and lyrically there are numerous references to circles, snakes, and ominous omens that paint a dark portrait that mirrors back the horrors of our current chaos. That it does this while also rocking the absolute f–k out of you is just ad added bonus, as is that stupidly sick hammer on lick about halfway through the track.

Both “Skull” and the album’s single “Crow (Fear The Night)” continue the trend of pulse pounding, driving metal that could have come straight out of 1983 had anyone actually been mean enough to write it. “Skull” has a riff sequence in its verses that could have come from any number of street tough bands, but what consistently amazes me is how well it pairs with the more black metal leaning vocals. Solos too are ferocious; fellow guitarist Scott Hoffman can blaze with a dextrous facility that never comes off as shred wanking (sorry not sorry); each solo feels and sounds composed but also dangerously close to veering into danger – the perfect combination. The side closes with the more meditative doom of “The Mystic” with poetic lyrics speaking of colors red black and white, of a child in time and a summoning that exactly captures the vibe of the awesome cover art by Adam Vick. It brings the pace down just enough for a breath before the next side.

Side B doesn’t let up, starting with the old school swagger of “The Last Blade”, serving up a heaping dose of classic metal spilling over with modulated riffing and harmonized leads that scale up to the heavens before a martial snare snaps us out and into the Iron Maiden opening of “Carry On”. I don’t make the Smith/Murray comparison lightly, but that’s the first thing I thought of when I heard that opening lead. Reading through a couple of early reviews for the album there re references to Dokken and even Def Leppard, and I can definitely hear that in some of the ideas here. But it’s all smothered in a filthy muck of more modern black metal that despite never having blast beats or tremolo riffing embodies the infernal spirit of that genre. The darker doom of “Tarmut” allows the throbbing bass of Avinash Mittur and the thick, analog drumming of Patrick Crawford to really shine through, and though it may the gummie I took earlier it sounds like Labrakis also sprinkles spectral effects in the empty spaces if so +2 Occult points, gentlemen.

By the time of closer “Winds Of Sokar” I have been thoroughly slain with the spike of classic metal. Nite continues to be the best at this kind of metal resurrection, and Cult of the Serpent Sun has quickly become my first real AOTY contender in the metal space. Is it too early to start tagging album with “Best of 2025”?