Draft:Nocturna (band)

Nocturna is a power metal band from Italy.

History
Grace Darkling (real name Greta Cangelosi) studied at the CPM Music Institute, and provides vocal coaching. Rehn Stillnight (real name Serena Zaffaroni) is a soprano vocalist, and also works as an alternative goth model. Both of them were both front singers of the band StarWards. They met Federico Mondelli, from Frozen Crown, in 2021, and started a new band with him. The initial demos were all home-recorded as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. They signed a deal for several albums with Scarlet Records in 2021. Soon after it they made a concert with Frozen Crown. Their first single, New Evil, was released on October 2021, before the release of the full album Daughters of the Night. The album is named after two characters described in the lyrics, who are fictionalized versions of Grace and Rehn, their shared history as friends and fictionalized descriptions of their failures at previous bands. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Andrea Fusini at Fusix Studio, with artwork by Rehn Stillnight.

The bad took part in the "Scarlet Records Fest" at the Legend Club, in Milan, by the end of 2022. In February 2023 they made a concert in Bergamo with Hellfox and Deathless Legacy. The next month they made an acoustic concert in the show where Frozen Crown released the album "Call of the North"; Grace and Rehn were invited by the band to play the songs "In the dark", "Across the sea", "Forever" and Helloween's cover "I Want Out". Grace Darkling provided guest vocals for the song "I3" by Reasons Behind, in their 2023 album "Architecture of an ego".

The band released the single "Seven Sins" in February 2024. It was released ahead of the second album, "Of sorcery and darkness", set to be released on April 19, also by Scarlet Records.

Members
Current members
 * Grace Darkling - Vocals (2021-present)
 * Rehn Stillnight - Vocals (2021-present)
 * Antares - Bass (2021-present)
 * Deimos - Drums (2021-present)
 * Hedon - Guitars (2021-present)

Discography

 * Daughters of the Night (2022)
 * Of sorcery and darkness (2024)

Reviews
Checo Mejia from "The Dark Melody" considers that the sound of the band is not original, and rather similar to Nightwish and Frozen Crown, but that it can be enjoyed nonetheless. In particular, he considers that the vocal range of Grace Darkling is similar to Frozen Crown's Giada Etro, and that the soprano Rehn Stillnight sounds similar to Tarja Turunen. Although the guitarist wears a mask and goes under the pseudonym "Hedon", Mejia recognizes the signature style of Frozen Crown's Federico Mondelli. He praises the contrast between the two voice styles, and the songs "Blood of heaven" and "Daughters of the night". He points out that symphonic metal bands usually play ballads, and among those he prefers "The sorrow path" and "Sea of Fire", which combines ballads with power metal. He also liked the closing song "The trickster", which he considers and homage to Nightwish.
 * Daughters of the night

Oz Ga from "The Dark Melody" admits that he liked the first album and was awaiting the new one. In general, he praises the creative talent of Hedon, the vocalists, the atmosphere of the album, the melodies, and the visual style of the band. He likes both the energy of the first song "Burn the witch" and the slower symphonic metal of "Sapphire", although he found the song a bit short. "Noctis Avem" follows the same style, and "Creatures of darkness" returns to the power metal style, but keeping the symphonic influences, in a way similar to Xandria. "First disobedience" is an interlude track, which leads to the single "Seven sins", a song with several changes of speed. "Through the maze" is a slow song, and Oz Ga considers that Hedon is trying new styles with it. He disliked the final songs "Strangers" and "Last day on Earth", which he found similar to the mainstream style of Evanescence.
 * Of sorcery and darkness