NIGHTREAPER

After a 25 years hiatus the Nightreaper harvest has resumed.
With a razor sharp blade, the melodic heavy power metal showcased by the band is even sharper after all these years.
Highlighted by inspired texts, the compositions combine themes and flights of devastating guitars supported by intansely sharp rhythms…
all harnessed to a voice mixing power and melodies giving pride of place to the choruses, and with a sprinkling of keyboards that are never intrusive.
“There’s no time to waste, release the energy, beacuase sooner or later we all dance with the Reaper!”
Like a wolf with sharp fangs, as razor sharp emerging from its tanning after hibernating for thirty years, 2023 continued to perform Nightreaper bu offering its new version re-recorded of the song ‘We Get Wild’.
The lyrics deal with topical subjects in the chaotic nviroment caused by a dehumanized cast under the pretense of a new world order so destructive.
The awakening of people seems like the final warning before the disappearance of this totalitarian system on its way out.
This firebrand came straight from the 90’s remains more than ever updated.
After leaving the band Lightning (ex Stormbringer) where Thierry Soulivet had played for a while as a bass player, alongside drummer Remy Legendre (ex Marienthal) and a certain Stephane Graziani on the vocals, the idea of creating his own band became more and more obvious for him.
His studies at the faculty of Sciences at the University of Rouen (Normandy) and then his year of studies in Musicology (also at Mont Saint Aignan) didn’t bring him complete satisfaction.
While continuing his interlude as a bass player in the cover band Dragonhead in his native French area of Eure (Vernon), the desire to play again his favorite instrument, the electric guitar, would henceforth mobilize all his energy in songwriting and composition for the first songs of his new project Nightreaper (Moissonneur de la Nuit) as ‘The Call Of The Reaper’, ‘Edge Of Time’, ‘Shadows Of The Past’, ‘Something Inside Me’.
Helped by a high school friend to write some lyrics, the also set up the visual design of the project.
The melodic heavy metal music of Nightreaper is born in 1987, with the project to avhieve a single.
This will be done in the beginning of 1988 with ‘Heroes Die Young’ now a rare item.
As mentioned previously, Thierry Soulivet, founder and guitarist of the band was the main composer and the first feedback on the specialized press about the single was excellent.
To record the two songs of the single ‘Heroes Die Young’ and the power ballad ‘Shadows Of The past’, Thierry recruited Fred Giraud, now known as Mister Noisy (guitar), Stephane Graziani (vocals, bass) and Arnaud Mortreuil (drums).
The first member to leave the band was the drummer, which was replaced by Eric Martins-Guerre, who was already present in the studio during the recording and joined the band in spring 1988.
The band will refine its set-list with songs like ‘Strange Land’, ‘Love Chains’, ‘The Race’ among others and followed by concerts, various band sets and festivals, whose first show took place in the famous club Les Templiers in Normandy with warm welcome of the audience.
In 1990, Mister Noisy, wishing to realize other musical projects far from the ares, left the band and was replaced by Philippe Cordier, native from the South of France who came to settle in Normandy.
In the meantime, the complexity of performing the pieces required the recruitment of a new musician.
Pascal Have, bass player, inspired by the way of playing of the famous Stev Harris (Iron Maiden) ,joined the band in the spring of 1990.
As soon as the set list was defined, the band played concerts throughout the year.
After a few monthe of collective work, the time came for the band to have its own rehearsalroom and studio.
Nightreaper’s headquarters were thus established in Normandy in the Andelle valley.
Then, for reasons of unavailability, Stephane Graziani had to leave the band and Florin Cioloca, a Romanian singer, came to settle in Rouen a few months before, who became lead vocalist to ensure continuity and the next shows.
Then, for an administrative reason, the line-up was modified once again.
Florin, unable to renew his resident visa in France had to leave the band and to return his country.
A frontman in thew person of Fabrice Sollier from the hard/metal scene of Lyon was confirmed as the new singer of Nightreaper in early 1992.
Fabrice travelled from Lyon to Normandy almost every week initially to rehearse and secondly fro songwriting.
The result of this rigorous bandwork was the relization of the ‘Strange Land’ demo-tape.
A contact is then established with the German label Online Music.
After a meeting in Hamburg with the team of the label and a period of reflection, it turned out that the conditions were not met for the band’s album to be properly produced and broadcasted…
A decision that tunred out to be the right decision, because other bands, who signed sequently, did not achieve the desired result…
Sweet Dreams!
From the beginning of 1993, the band began a new songwriting work anhanced with keyboard parts while keeping the same line-up.
This effort gave birth to ‘We Get Wild’, a 4-track cassette, including the songs ‘Dreambreakers’, ‘I Close My Eyes’ and ‘Kill The Defender’,
A new series of shows will follow with an anecdotal tour in jails in Eastern France.
It was from this period, that the great wave of heavy metal gradually began to be absorbed by other styles, causing a decline in the popularity of leading bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Helloween.
Despite everything, links were forged between Nightreaper and the English band Taurea, thus giving rise to commun tours in the United Kingdom and in France with a new bassist in the person of Alain Acloque.
Some time later, Philippe Cordier, guitarist present since 1990, left the band, leaving his place to Jean-Pierre Brunier.
The lack of interest from labels and the diminishment of style in the media and on stage did not dampen the determination of the band, which launched itself into the pre-production of round ten new tracks in order to produce an album provisionally named ‘Last Metal Rebel’ before to take a break in 1994…
A lot of water flowed on the damn since this break, Thierry Soulivent and Eric Martins-Guerra decided to sow again with Nightreaper.
In the meantime, in 1999 Eric formed the band Coverslave, a tribute to Iron Maiden, with Jean-Pierre Brunier, Pascal Have, Frederic Lebouette and Stephane Graziani.
Despite the pandemic, Thierry and Eric step by step found and collected the tapes from the time and began a long process of arranging and re-recording the tracks.
In order to provide the vocal parts, Fred Caramia, iconic singer of rhe band Coverqueen, now called The world Of Queen, joined Nightreaper in spring 2020.
The latter had officiated with Eric in the band The Faceless God from 2004 to 2005.
The first track to be broadcasted is the emblematic song ‘Strange Land’ on wich Fred Giraud aka Mister Noisy reuinited with his friends after 23 years to record an epic solo.
They also promised to tour together as soon as promotion for the album begins.
The second song ‘We Get Wild’ put online, confirms the project of the new album ‘Strange & Wild’, which includes titles from the band’s back catalog, but also new pieces currently in production evolving in a style, that can be defined by melodic heavy power metal.
A more than promising come back of Nightreaper confirmed by the song ‘Strange Land’, already totaling 280k streams in one year on the Soundcloud platform.
Have they invented a new proverb?
Time will tell…