Kingdom of the Night

Kingdom of the Night is a vivid debut on which Axxis foregrounds bright, powerful melody, crisp guitar and big, sing-along-inducing choruses. Emerging from Germany, it is known for recording one of the biggest hits as a debut album by a German metal act at the time, with its high polish and catchy appeal. The songs, while keeping a sure weight, proceed lightly, and the whole is filled with the bright, open appeal particular to European melodic metal. In particular, the speeding title track “Kingdom of the Night” became an early classic symbolizing the band with its memorable melody and powerful chorus. The songs, while lining up memorable hooks generously, never lose the sure momentum of the playing. Bernhard Weiss’s soaring, powerful vocals powerfully drive the whole. An extremely energetic record that brought a new accessibility and pop sense, unseen before, to the German metal scene. It vividly emerged as a presence carrying a new current of German metal, alongside the likes of Helloween. A powerful, ambitious debut that became the brilliant origin of the long career built later — the band’s starting point here.