Nightfall Release Details About Upcoming Album, Cassiopeia

Greek symphonic metallers Nightfall have revealed the artwork and a new song off their upcoming new album, Cassiopeia. Check out the lyric video for “Oberon & Titania” above and let us know what you think. Honestly, that opening riff is brutal as hell. The lyric video is a little too Lord of the Rings for us, but it’s better than most.

Cassiopeia will be released January 18, 2013, via Metal Blade Records in Europe. For now, check out what singer Efthimis Karadimas had to say about the concept of Cassiopeia:

“Cassiopeia has a specific thesis and though its name is linked to both the constellation and the mythical character of Andromeda´s mother, it refers to arrogance as leading characteristic of the human race; the outcome of this and the overweening state of affairs are so popular these harsh days everywhere. The entire world seems to be shifting from its previous position to a new one and all and each one of us that used to feel like masters of our destiny are now starting to wonder about when, where and how this transition will end. It may be a punishment like Cassiopeia and Andromeda who claimed themselves more beautiful even to nereids suffered, or it may be just another change. Time will certainly tell.”

And about “Oberon & Titania”:

“The song is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream couple; He is the king of fairies and She is the fairy queen. Despite their apparent close relationship, they end up forcefully using their powers and skills against each other; like maniacs blinded by light of passion and haughtiness they drag themselves to the lowest dungeons of nature. It is the ceaseless passion between two beings; passion that unites before it destroys anything around it once unleashed. It is true we are nothing when it comes to sustaining our gratefulness in front of desire. We are born broken in a dilute world poets’ admiration cannot disguise. And none can break the broken.”

The recordings for Cassiopeia took place in four different places, something Nightfall is quite familiar with. Vocals and keys were recorded in Greece (Soundflakes studios & Cyberia) while the drums got hammered down in Germany in the Soundlodge studios. Guitars and bass were recorded in the U.S. in Nashville, Tennessee, in the Boomcave studios.

More than on the previous album, Astron Black & The Thirty Tyrants, in Cassiopeia the spirit of old school Heavy Metal larks in almost every riff, with Mercyful Fate´s and King Diamond´s guitar style having its top-notch, always the Nightfall way.

Nightfall – Cassiopeia track list:

1. Phaethon
2. Oberon & Titania
3. Colonize Cultures
4. The Nightwatch
5. Stellar Parallax
6. Hubris
7. The Reptile Gods
8. Hyperion
9. Akhenaton, the 9th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty
10. The Sand Reckoner
11. Astropolis