19 SEPTEMBER 19-25, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | FIND MORE MUSIC COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/MUSIC Melodeath Madness NIGHTWRAITH CELEBRATES AN ALBUM RELEASE AT THE HI-DIVE WITH AN ALL-LOCAL BILL. BY JUSTIN CRIADO NightWraith is back with a new album, and it absolutely rips. After the blackened-melodeath outfi t re- leased Offering in 2022, a strong sophomore record in its own right, the fi ve-piece spent the majority of the past two years hitting the stage and local circuit. But the members were also quietly concocting fresh material at their new bassist’s home studio. “We supported Offering as much as we could. We weren’t able to do proper touring on it, because, you know, we’re all old and have careers and families,” says Benjamin Pitts, NightWraith’s crimson-bearded guitarist and vocalist. “We did a lot of weekend warrior stuff, which was cool. Then the past couple years, we’ve been hard at work writing this record.” The band’s third offering, Divergence — which dropped on September 13 via Col- orado Springs label What’s Left Records — lands as a focused and polished product with a carefully crafted sonic direction that’s uniquely NightWraith. Two previously released singles, “Whis- pers of Dragonfl ies” and “Perpetual Night,” served as perfect teasers to the eclectic collec- tion, which is equal parts death-metal brutal- ity and synth-wave whimsy. There are even some classical moments across Divergence’s nine tracks, which include the heaviest cover of Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them” you’ve ever heard. Pitts says that he, Jacob St. Amand (bass), Caleb Jose Tardio (keyboards/syn- thesizer), Igor Panasewicz (guitar) and Isidro “Spy” Soto (drums) intentionally explored some uncharted — and surprising — territory. “I think we fi nally found the sound that we’ve always been looking for,” he says. “We’ve been a band for eight years now, so these things take time, but this is really what we always wanted NightWraith to sound like. We fi nally just pinned it down a little bit better.” The group facetiously called its sound “blackened dad rock” in the past, but it’s become so much more — the technicality and variety of musicianship, the composi- tion of each song and release, the way it all just works so well. Curious readers can see and hear NightWraith for themselves at the band’s release show on Friday, September 27, at the hi-dive, the group’s unoffi cial home base. Necropanther, Upon a Fields Whisper and Lacerated round out the all-local bill. On Offering, NightWraith, which included founding bass- ist J.J. Hilger at the time, went more of a classic-rock route, specifi cally leaning on Tardio’s skills behind a Hammond B3 organ. But this time around, Tardio broke out the synth to give Divergence a fi tting retro- wave vibe. “We wanted it to sound more cinematic. We wanted it to sound like all the ’80s sci- fi and horror movies that we love, like John Carpenter kind of stuff,” Pitts explains. “Caleb did a lot of work honing his synth sound and fi nding a way to blend that properly with the songs to where it didn’t feel out of place.” St. Amand, who offi cially joined NightWraith last year after producing Offering, agrees. Other than handling bass now, he also assumed the producer role for Divergence. “The music was written with the addition of the synth in mind probably more than the last one,” he says. “We really gave him free range to come up with cool synth sounds for each song, and it was very easy to work with from a production standpoint.” The addition of St. Amand shouldn’t be overlooked, either, Pitts is quick to point out. “He was basically the sixth member of the band anyway, learning the songs in and out, making that production happen,” he explains. “So after we already worked with him for [Offering], we had this comfortability with him. He was our fi rst choice, and he said yes.” Other than drums, which were tracked at the Band Cave, everything else was laid down at St. Amand’s spot, affectionately referred to in the liner notes as Sonny’s Lair, a nod to the bassist’s pup, who has “been a part of all the recordings,” St. Amand says. “He does kind of own the place,” he quips. “He’s a good boy,” Pitts adds. While Sonny doesn’t make a proper cameo on Divergence, the album can be seen as a love letter of sorts to the Denver music scene: “We went real heavy with col- laborations this time,” Pitts admits, selecting some of the city’s best players in their respec- tive fi elds. Cole Rudy, the pedal steel guitar player from Dragondeer, lends his chops on “Perpetual Night,” which is an otherwise in-your-face blackened-melodeath banger. “We’ve all been in bands with him back in the day,” Pitts says. “He’s even mentioned that he couldn’t think of literally any ex- amples where there’s pedal steel guitar in this type of extreme music.” Neither can we. Same goes for fl ute: On “Whispers of Dragonfl ies,” Kelly Schilling of Dreadnought breaks out a fl ute solo that would make Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson blush with envy. The collabs don’t stop there: For “One Flower,” Andy Wild of Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (whom Pitts refers to as “a super old friend”) busts out a baritone saxo- phone that’s so fi tting, it’s hard to imagine the song without it. Then Wayfarer guitarist Joe Strong-Truscelli provides a soaring solo for “Invocation.” He and Pitts used to play in a Dethklok cover band, and the instru- mental track is reminiscent of that beloved fi ctional cartoon group. “He’s probably my favorite metal ripper in Denver,” Pitts says of Strong-Truscelli. “Fallen Kings and Queens” is the most heartfelt song on Divergence, as it primarily serves as a tribute to late Planes Mistaken for Stars vocalist and guitarist Gared O’Donnell, who passed away at 44 in 2021 after a brief battle with esophageal cancer, and features backup vocals from former Planes bassist and guitarist Chuck French. “It’s kind of like a commemoration for Gared,” Pitts says. “Gared is one of the fallen kings mentioned in the song, and it was really cool having Chuck, someone who was so con- nected to him and toured with him for years and years, to do a little guest vocal on that.” Pitts hints that there might even be a surprise guest appearance during the release show. “The date is approaching so quickly, and we haven’t had time to focus on that,” he muses. “It’d probably be easier to bring a fl ute on stage than a pedal steel or guitar amp.” Either way, NightWraith will play Diver- gence in its entirety for the fi rst time at the hi-dive. Aside from the Pink Floyd cover that closes it all out — a song Pitts considers more of a bonus track than part of the record’s overall arch — Divergence explores themes of humanity’s role in, and future with, AI. “The thread that binds it all together is technology,” he explains. “That wasn’t the idea going into it, but as I was fi nishing up the lyrics and trying to fi nd a theme to tie everything together...since AI has been a topic of conversation lately, those things were knocking around in my mind, especially with the title track. “It’s basically about how we’re at a crux in humanity and there are these different paths that humanity can take that will probably have drastically different consequences to them that has to do with technology,” he continues. “If you know us, we’re leaning on the side of going away from technology and establishing a connection with nature. It’s more of a warning against maybe we shouldn’t go all in on technology.” Divergence doesn’t come across as dire as that might sound, though, especially since the music is so damn catchy and fantastical at times. It helps that the lyrics aren’t too on the nose, either. “There’s always an op- timistic tinge to it,” St. Amand says of Pitts’s songwriting. “It’s not that overly oppressive and negative.” “Yeah, it’s not all doom and gloom,” Pitts concludes. “It’s more like, ‘This is how bad it could be, but be like NightWraith.’ We’re offering you the solution.” And even if you’re not necessarily seeking total salvation, you’ll fi nd a brief reprieve from it all with Divergence. Godspeed. NightWraith, with Necropanther, Upon a Fields Whisper and Lacerated, 7 p.m. Friday, September 27, hi-dive, 7 South Broadway, $15, hi-dive.com. MUSIC Divergence is available on all streaming platforms. COURTESY OF NIGHTWRAITH
