Music Style Death Metal

Artist History NOKTURNEL, a band formed in 1989 driven by intense speed, and technical madness ravaged the minds of all with raw debut, "Nothing But Hatred", on J. L. America Records. The band came together after the demise of one of the oldest thrash bands in the USA, Savage Death. The band fell apart, which was no surprise seeing we were still in high school when our demos were released. Savage Death existed from about 83'-86'. We were part of the first Satanic Death Thrash movement which meant a lot more back then as opposed to now....and gained momentum so fast only to perish in flames in a few years. After a few wasted years, Savage Death's drummer Eric Young and I decided to get together to see how I would like playing with a bass player he had met. This turned out to be Martin O' Connor. There was another guitarist there as well who I knew would never cut it so as soon as he left the room, I told Eric I thought Marty was great but they needed to dump that guitarist and the songs they wrote and we would form a new band. That is how Nokturnel was spawned from the ashes of Savage Death. We soon went into the studio to record the 4 Song demo, "You Don't Stand A Chance", which we banged out live in about 4 hours. Next was the "Welcome to New Jersey" demo which really got the band a lot of recognition. The demo was half of what was used on the Nothing But Hatred release along with 5 other songs which we recorded to make it a full length. That release came out in 1993 and was heralded as ahead of its time and received much praise for its originality. However, it was mostly appreciated by musicians seeing its complexity was simply too much for some people to take in. In 1994, two new songs were recorded for the "Anti Grunge" 7 inch on Rage Records which was a good representation of the direction the songwriting was going towards. More structured songs without losing any of the edge and keeping up and possibly even surpassing the speeds of the first CD. I was very involved in writing more songs when things went astray due to the rest of the band wanting to pursue more normal lifestyles as opposed to giving 100% to metal. There was never any bullshit over the breakup, we remain friends and still talk on and off to this day. This brought on the temporary demise of the band, which I never would admit was completely finished because I knew eventually I would play this style of music again and finish my new CD. I spent a few years working with other bands which was a great experience and also helped me along with my songwriting by practicing other styles of metal such as my participation in Exile/Brimstone, Morpheus Descends, and Incantation. Over the past 8 to 10 years I would get ideas for other parts to add to my original riffs which evolved into the songs on this new recording. In other words, this music was literally years in the making and I am astounded by the final product and stand confident and proud to say that this release will be nothing short if anyone's expectations. I have had the honor of having some true friends who have supported the legend of this band through all the years of silence and I refuse to let them or myself down. There will be some noticeable different styles thrown into the mix of the CD but my trademark 1000 notes per riff will be there to officially stamp it as Nokturnel. Lyrically will be part factual... part fictional and the twisted humorous side to the band will not be too evident on this CD. However, older material will be included in our live performances seeing so many people who like this band have never had an opportunity to hear it live. Of course, I still enjoy those songs too especially after all the hard work the original line up put into them. We began the recording on June 18th to begin making my vision into a reality. As it had always been with this band, I am the main songwriter. I will write all the lyrics, do all the vocals, and compose all the music for this CD. I will play all guitars and the bass is now handled by Death Of Million's (Austin, TX) guitarist Lee Ribera and the session Drummer Tophetarath from FOG (Ft. Wayne, IN).

Group Members Tom Steven - guitar/vocals; Lee Ribera - bass; Tophetarath - drums

Albums Nothing But Hatred (1993/JL America); Fury Unleashed (2001/Nokturnel Eclipse)

Location Leander, TX - USA

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