Invictus – Nocturnal Visions Review

[Cover artwork by Juanjo Castellano]

I dove into Nocturnal Visions – Invictus’s sophomore effort – having heard zero seconds of the Japanese death metal band’s debut, The Catacombs of Fear. In some ways, it’s an advantageous perspective. No expectations. No band-specific bias. Fresh ears.

The one thing I had read about Invictus, however, proved to be true. These guys rip. Big and thrashy death metal riffs. The no-holds-barred, knock you off your feet type riffs. The walloping kind. Listen to the title track first and you’ll know. Massive riffage.

What I like most about Nocturnal Visions is that it unapologetically knocks you on your ass. Aside from the riffs and some cool bass lines, there’s little in the way of additional atmospherics. That confident approach takes a certain combination of talent, skill, and moxie. Suffice to say, these guys have plenty of it.

The self-professed influences (Monstrosity, Malevolent Creation, Mercyless, Morbid Angel, Gorguts) are there. And there’s a hint of Pestilence and Demolition Hammer in the thrashier bits. But where Invictus shines brightest is when, rather than steer the ship, these influences merely serve as guiding inspirations. For instance, on the up-tempo “Persecution Madness,” Invictus owns their own brand of death/thrash; heavy on both but leaning more on the latter despite the strong sense of melody. Nocturnal Visions is hardly epic at 35 minutes. Yet at 3:31, the undeniable strength of “Persecution Madness” suggests they may want to keep things even tighter.

Invictus finds its best footing in the more frenetic moments. And this distinction between inspired freneticism and a less inspired relative calm is perhaps clearest in “Frozen Tomb,” a song that oscillates between the two in near-equal fashion. No knock on the effectiveness of yin and yang, but Invictus simply slaps harder in the chaos. There’s a requisite degree of meanness – the point at which Invictus has cleared the threshold into some other, more callous world – and when they hit that sweet, or rather mean, spot, the gloves are off and the wallops come walloping.

Nocturnal Visions is an incredibly fun listen. And as odd as it feels to write in February, Nocturnal Visions’ highs are likely to be as high as most album-of-the-year contenders in the death metal category in 2026. You can’t help but smile when Invictus locks into primal death/thrash mode. I would love to hear more of that in the follow-up.