Holy shit NOCTURNAL RITES IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After the somewhat mediocre NWM they have released a killer album.My feelings towards this album were very mixed and the first impression was mostly negative.At first i thought this was just NWM part 2.Most of the songs were just scraped ideas from NWM and NR were simply repeating themselves.But after considerable spins of The Grand Illusion i realized exactly how good the album was.This album is 10 out of 10.No weak songs and only 1 or 2 boring moments.The songs are more heavy, some fast and some mid-paced and melodic just as Thunderstone did with their new album, but NR managed to pull 10 great and amazing songs (no ballads).No changes at the vocal front.Johnny Lindkvist is still a monster of a vocalist and he does superb job on this album.I suggest anyone even slightly interested in this band to try their new one.I think i'll check again their older catalog just for a reminder and to do a more accurate comparison.This in my opinion is the better NWM.
My fav. song - Never Trust.

OK. :o I'll check this album out simply for this description. Even though New world Messiah sucked some serious ball sack and it would take some serious work to develop anything close to Afterlife.

Holy shit NOCTURNAL RITES IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After the somewhat mediocre NWM they have released a killer album.My feelings towards this album were very mixed and the first impression was mostly negative.At first i thought this was just NWM part 2.Most of the songs were just scraped ideas from NWM and NR were simply repeating themselves.But after considerable spins of The Grand Illusion i realized exactly how good the album was.This album is 10 out of 10.No weak songs and only 1 or 2 boring moments.The songs are more heavy, some fast and some mid-paced and melodic just as Thunderstone did with their new album, but NR managed to pull 10 great and amazing songs (no ballads).No changes at the vocal front.Johnny Lindkvist is still a monster of a vocalist and he does superb job on this album.I suggest anyone even slightly interested in this band to try their new one.I think i'll check again their older catalog just for a reminder and to do a more accurate comparison.This in my opinion is the better NWM.
My fav. song - Never Trust.

Ill but it, but of course I am a "discography" freak, so I would buy it even if it did not meet expectations. I hope it is as good as you say.
How did you hear it, I did not think it was out yet?

no thanks, I'll pass. It is amazing that mediocre generic band gets so much hype.

Ill but it, but of course I am a "discography" freak, so I would buy it even if it did not meet expectations. I hope it is as good as you say.
How did you hear it, I did not think it was out yet?

Afterlife - 86
Shadowland - 76

It seems you didn't think this was mediocre generic band before.And why do you think it is getting so much hype.So far i am the only one praising it.The album is not out yet so there are no reviews and you can't really say it's been hyped based only on 1 opinion.

As you can see I am rather generous with my scores and don't like giving bands scores that are too low. Yes Afterlife was pretty good, but Shadowland didn't do anything for me, I can't really give it a very low score because it isn't really bad, but it is not really interesting either. I don't mean just you praising this band, there is also holy_terror that is obsessed with them and the scores that their albums get from different review sites are ridiculous.

I totally understand you, but maybe you should give albums the scores they deserve.I think it's the only fair thing to do.And i think others can better appreciate an honest score than you giving a high score and then bashing the album all over the forums.
It's true most of NR reviews are scored too high and not just here on MR, but that is happening everywhere and not only for NR.
Didn't know holy_terror is "obsessed" with NR.I wonder what his opinion on this album is then.

…the forth song is nothing special. It has a cool intro, but I forgot the song was even playing while listening to it. The fifth song “Wasted Days” is kind of boring as well. “Cuts like a knife,” this song sucks. The rest of the album is pretty much just average, except “Never ending.” “Never ending” has a very melodic sound to it, and some nice guitar work. Also “One by One” has a nice solo, but that’s all it has going for it. The last song is probably just as bad as the first one. All and all this is a decent album, better than NWM, but not as good as Shadowland or Afterlife. 73/100 on my first listen. I’ll listen to it again later and see if I feel any different about it.