A brutal war is raging between the forces of ancient superstition and scientific enlightenment: NIGHTBEARER are leading the charge with their crushing third full-length “Defiance”. The German death dealers from the City of Paderborn in Eastern Westphalia have hammered out an album that retains their signature HM-2 chainsaw guitar sound and also maintains their unapologetic love for melodic death metal of the Swedish kind.
“Defiance” also marks another step in the careful but steady evolution of their sound by adding a black passage here and a doom-spiced moment there to their old-school sound. The result is an overall much more atmospheric album, which perfectly suits its lyrical concept. The album is directly inspired by the renowned “His Dark Materials” trilogy of books by English author Sir Philip Pullman. The lyrics introduce key characters and events in the plot that revolves on a deeper level of meaning around humanity’s emancipation from oppression by religion. NIGHTBEARER defiantly engage with the resistance to bring about Enlightenment 2.0.
When NIGHTBEARER were formed by vocalist Michael Torka and guitarist Dominik Hellmuth in 2017, they were driven by a fervent love for old-school death metal and its golden age in the glorious 1990s. Yet nearly two decades later, the Germans saw plenty of good reasons not to dwell too much on gore and splatter as that had already been done ad nauseam. Instead, they followed their second passion for literature, particularly in the fantasy, grimdark, and horror genres including such classic authors as J.R.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Jordan, and Philip Pullman.
Their first public sign of life was the 5-track EP “Stories from Beyond”, which was released on June 30, 2018. With a ton of positive feedback under their belts, NIGHTBEARER felt encouraged to evolve from a duo into a full band with the aid of musician friends from the wider area of their hometown Paderborn. Their debut full-length album “Tales of Sorcery and Death” (2019) immediately scored a top ten position (#8) in the soundcheck of Germany Rock Hard magazine and was generally very well received.
With their sophomore studio album “Ghosts of a Darkness to Come” (2022), NIGHTBEARER expanded their lyrical theme to conceptual size by taking their listeners on a journey into the bloody, dark, and deadly events of the late Robert Jordan’s epic saga ‘The Wheel of Time’. Backed by the success, the Germans began to deliver powerful performances at notable festivals such as Metal Diver Festival and Party.San Herbstoffensive.
NIGHTBEARER display a perfect sense of timing by offering their third and most complete full-length to date, based on the “His Dark Materials” trilogy, to the world right now in a death metal act of “Defiance”!
Band: Nightbearer
Title: Defiance
Style: Melodic Death Metal
Release date: June 13, 2025
Label: Testimony Records
Review impact date: May 12, 2025
Current line-up
Michael Torka – vocals
Dominik Hellmuth – lead guitar
Tristan Schubert – rhythm guitar
Florian Böhmfeld – bass guitar
Manuel Lüke – drums
Recording line-up
Michael Torka – vocals
Dominik Hellmuth – guitars, bass, programming
Manuel Lüke – drums
Recording by Dominik Hellmuth at Hellmouth Studios, Warburg (DE)
Drum recording by Manuel Lüke at HateForce Studios, Geseke (DE)
Mix by Dominik Hellmuth at Hellmouth Studios, Warburg (DE)
Mastering by Dominik Hellmuth at Hellmouth Studios, Warburg (DE)
Cover artwork by Timon Kokott
Layout by Michael Torka
Shop
http://lnk.spkr.media/nightbearer-defiance
Formats
“Defiance” will be available as a Digipak CD, as a black vinyl LP, and as a ltd. marbled transparent blue & solid black vinyl LP.
Links
www.nightbearer.de
www.facebook.com/nightbearer
www.instagram.com/nightbearer_official
Live
14 JUN 2025 Bielefeld (DE) JZ Stricker (Album Release Show)
7-9 AUG 2025 Schlotheim (DE) Party.San Open Air
20 SEP 2025 Osnabrück (DE) Bastard Club
