METALLIAN - Nightrage

Sweet Vengeance – 2003 – Century Media
Descent Into Chaos – 2005 – Century Media
A New Disease Is Born – 2007 – Lifeforce
Wearing A Martyr's Crown – 2009 - Lifeforce
Insidious – 2011 - Lifeforce
The Puritan – 2015 - Despotz
The Venomous – 2017 - Despotz
Wolf To Man – 2019 - Despotz
Abyss Rising – 2022 - Despotz
Remains Of A Dead World - 2024 - Despotz

Members

Vocals

Grotesque, Liers In Wait. Infestation, At The Gates, Skitsystem, The Crown, Lock-Up>>Tomas Lindberg>>Lock-Up, At The Gates, Skitsystem, Grotesque, Disfear, Sign Of Cain, The Great Deceiver, The Lurking Fear – Evergrey>>Tom S. Englund>>Evergrey – Despite, Death Destruction, Dead By April, Cipher System>>Jimmie Strimell>>Cipher System, Death Destruction, Dead By April – Nervosia>>Antony Hämäläinen>>Nervosia, Meridian Dawn, Armageddon, Crystal Tears, Ancient Settlers, Slaves For Scores, Til The End - Detained, Always War, Enemy Is Us, Forcefeed, Gus Of Sweden, Valley Of The Dead>>Ronnie Nyman>>Always War, Gus Of Sweden, Valley Of The Dead - Herta>>KONSTANTINOS TOGAS>>Herta

Guitar

Exhumation, The Forsaken, Firewind>>MARIOS ILIOPOULOS>>The Forsaken, Firewind – Dream Evil, Mystic Prophecy, Firewind>>Gus G. [Konstantinos "Kostas" Karamitroudis]>>Dream Evil, Mystic Prophecy, Firewind, Arch Enemy, Ozzy Osbourne, Solo, Tuska20, King Diamond – Atrocity, Rosicrucian, Slapdash, Lost Souls, Inrage, Reignsaw, Leech, Mezzrow>>Magnus Söderman>>Reignsaw, Leech, Mezzrow

Bass

Sol Negro>>Brice Leclercq>>Dissection, Satyricon, Ages, CON, From Kaos – Eternal Grief, Cipher System>>Henric Carlsson [Henric Liljesand]>>Dead By April, Cipher System, The Unguided, Night Crowned, Amaranthe, Avdagata, Ulverheim - Disdain, Dragonland>>Anders Hammer>>Dragonland – Always War, Morphetik>>FRANCISCO ESCALONA>>Always War, Morphetik

Drums

Graff Spee, Death Axe, Extreme Feedback, Invocator, Geronimo, Konkhra, The Haunted, Daemon, Artillery>>Per M. Jensen>>The Haunted, Road To Jerusalem, The Road – Suicide Of Demons, Firewind, Meridian Dawn, Mystica>>Johan Nunez>>Mystica, Meridian Dawn, Firewind, Marty Friedman, Kamelot, Dragonland, Lords Of Black, Darkblazers, Gus G., Masterplan – Innerwish, Dream Devoid, Necromantia, Bob Katsionis, Septicflesh>>Fotis Benardo [Fotis Giannakopoulos]>>Septicflesh, Necromantia, Double Square, Chaostar, Nightfall - Astral Carneval, Bleeding Utopia, Loch Vostok, Carnal Forge>>Lawrence Dinamarca>>Loch Vostok, Carnal Forge, Avund, Eternal Autumn, Sickomania, Scar Symmetry – Hocus, Astray, Exomnia, Boom Dox>>"Dino" George Stamoglou>>Astray, Exomnia, Boom Dox

History & Biography

Marios Iliopoulos formed the Greece-based extreme band after the break-up of Exhumation in the year 2000. The monicker came from an Exhumation song. Being fascinated with the Gothenburg sound the man moved the entity to that city in Sweden and began working with Swedish musicians. The sole other notable Greek musician was Gus G. who himself worked with Scandinavian bands and musicians. Three quick demos were issued and Century Media mailed in a contract. The band would return to Greece, but would return to Sweden in 2012. Gus G. signed on to play Ozzfest with Arch Enemy, but would permanently leave in March of the year after as he was also focusing on Firewind. Bolt Thrower and Nightrage toured. Nightrage released a new album, entitled Wearing A Martyr’s Crown, through Lifeforce Records on June 25th. The album was produced at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. Tomas Lindberg was back for Insidious, as was Gus G. as a guest. Firewind announced its first North American headlining tour, named the Frets Of Fury, for October 2011 featuring support from Arsis, White Wizzard and Nightrage. Guitarist Olof Mörck was forced to not be a part of the band's Frets Of Fury tour with Firewind in North America. Filling in for him was former Cellador and Circle II Circle guitarist Bill Hudson. The band signed a deal for recording and publishing with Swedish music company Despotz in 2014. Ronnie Nyman joined in 2014. The band’s next album was expected in February of 2015. Nightrage released its sixth studio album, The Puritan, on April 24th through Despotz Records. Marios was the co-owner of Otse Music and recording studio in 2017. Francisco Escalona joined in 2018. The band was touring Europe in September. He had been a session live player with the band for a year. Wolf To Man was out in early 2019. Abyss Rising of 2022 was announced for February.

Nightrage had a new record called Remains Of A Dead World through Despotz Records on 31.05.2024. A video for the song A Throne Of Melancholy and another for Persevere Through Adversity were available early. The band was fronted by Konstantinos Togas now. Drummer Fotis Benardo returned in 2024. The group was booked for two concerts in Japan for autumn of 2024. This was followed by an appearance at South Korea's Hellride festival. The band, Destinity and Monolyth announced a European tour for April 2025. Former singer Tomas Lindberg died of adenoid cystic carcinoma, a form of cancer affecting the mouth area, on September 16th, 2025. He was 52 years old. Guitarist Magnus Söderman left after nine years in the band in 2025. His replacement was called Kostas Alvanos. Nightrage appeared at the Golden Rules Festival in Volos, Greece in 2026. The band was also booked for the Odense Metalfest in Denmark on October 23rd and at The Kaliber Room in Uppsala, Sweden on October 24th. Nightrage announced a 25th anniversary vinyl release for 2026. The release included a track from each of the band's albums, plus two bonus songs previously released only in Japan.

The band will have a new line-up by the time you read this.

Reviews

NIGHTRAGE - SWEET VENGEANCE - CENTURY MEDIA
Imagine cruising down the highway in a shiny new Porsche with no traffic in sight. The air is crisp, the speed exhilarating and the feeling sheer joy. Then all of a sudden and without any warning an envious pig pulls you over and hands you a ticket. That is how one feels when after blasting this raging thrash demon for quite a few magnificent minutes until the 'melodic vocals' of one Tom S. Englund screech out of the speakers.
Nightrage was formed in Greece by former Exhumation guitarist Marios Iliopoulos but this band is as Swedish as meatballs, relaxation massages or At The Gates' Slaughter Of The Soul album. In fact, Nightrage is the world's best At The Gates cover band, quite a feat given the number of 'tribute' acts doing the ATG rounds at this very moment. To add substance to the effect, Nightrage has even clinched At The Gates' own Tomas Lindberg to do the honour and perform vocals on Sweet Vengeance. Not only the band members must have been honoured by their hero's presence, but they must have also been stoked to score the coup given how Lindberg is currently involved with, what, six or seven other bands as well!
Yes, one has heard this album before. Still, it is a ripping wild beast - even if its stripes have been seen before using many different titles. The songs are aggressive and sizzle. The solo on The Glow Of The Setting Sun is pure Arch Enemy, although the lead work here is largely courtesy of Gus G (he of Dream Evil of course) which means that the proficiency is never a question. Having said that Gus, like Evergrey's Tom, is more of a guest here. Marios is the undisputed founder, leader and writer for this act. As for the aforementioned singer, listen to the start of Circle Of Pain and it immediately becomes clear that he is trying his best to be reminiscent of the worst moments of Whitesnake. He just does not belong.
Elsewhere the band amuses itself (and some others) by mimicking At The Gates non-stop. Aside from the riffs, vocals, sound, etc. where At The Gates would scream 'serpent sun' this bunch scream 'setting sun.' The aggression of Slaughter Of The Soul was only interrupted by an acoustic interlude, as is this album. The final album of the Swedes ended with an instrumental. So does this album. And so it goes. Regardless, this is a brutal album and, as mentioned, powerful in its own right. Who knows, perhaps the band will one day remix and re-release it sans the 'melodic vocals.' - Ali "The Metallian"

NIGHTRAGE - DESCENT INTO CHAOS - CENTURY MEDIA
Whereas the debut album of Nightrage, 2003's Sweet Vengeance, was a case of lost potential and missed opportunities, Descent Into Chaos is a powerful and convincing thrash metal album. The band, featuring former At The Gates' singer Tomas Lindberg, still sounds like its Gothenburg heroes, but the dependency has certainly waned and Nightrage's character and qualities shine through more fully here. The thrashing is compact, tight, powerful and graced by a sound production befitting the genre. The vocals wail and scream, the rhythm is solid and the pace keeps the listener on his toes. Moreover, Nightrage has dispensed with the disservices of Tom of Evergrey who destroyed its debut release. Save for the song Frozen where Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity does his 'clean vocals' rubbish and the keyboards appear, the songs are breakneck and anti-commercial. One beef though is the lack of guitar solos. With guitar wonder Gus G. in the line-up the listener would expect way more guitar work. Apparently, Gus was too busy with his main bands to really concentrate on Descent Into Chaos and solos like the one on Poems and Frozen remain rare and treasured here. More solos next time please!
In the meanwhile, songs like Drug, Silent Solitude and Omen hit hard and make this album well worth the price of the plunge. - Ali "The Metallian"

NIGHTRAGE - A NEW DISEASE IS BORN - LIFEFORCE
One must tip the hat to Nightrage for branding itself 'death metal' and placing the banner right there on its new album’s cover. After being dropped by its old record label, Century Media, the band finds a new home with Lifeforce Records (the label gets one back from Century Media after losing so many bands to its bigger German rival) and is back with a revamped line-up.
The album is extremely well played, syncopated, fast and flowing. The music, while brutally fast, is smooth. Jacob Hansen’s production is certainly helpful and, as always, brings all the instruments to the front. The vocals are savage and aggressively loud. The album loses points to become a mere sixty (above average) however because of the use of clean and trendy vocals. It is a completely commercial copout when bands do this and Nightrage ('death metal') should have evaded the problem. The new singer, Jimmie Strimell, is a find though and can do a mean Tomas Lindberg and At The Gates impression.
Regardless, A New Disease Is Born is a pretty efficient killer. The band should really consider not diluting its approach next time with lame vocals. The diversity embedded in the music, melodies and harmonies will do the job and thanks very much. One last thing, wasn’t 'Death-like Silence' the name of the old Mayhem record label and a Sodom song? - Anna Tergel

Interviews

Nightrage