Glimpse Of Hope

"In this gloomy dark night, when death still reigns out here, through this eerie forest, we travel to reach our goal. Suddenly a voice calls out, from somewhere far beyond, a call from a stranger up ahead on the road."
Out under the heavens and across the horizon the spirit of the One who is the Great Northern Flame burns with longsuffering and passion for His creation"¦
In the northlands your journey under the twilight begins at the shores of Pitkajarvi where the gibbering stranger (a demonic host) offers you deception upon deception. In the woods, the voice of Jesus' great words of power, topple this so-called-friend urging you to heed His warning and come back again. Only then do you come to understand the depth of the battle for your soul. From there, your days will never be the same.
"When you walk alone, at the edge of reality, there's something that you feel stalking from behind. In the night, in the moonlight, there's something lurking about. He's watching your every move always."
A rich touch of epic melancholy is laden throughout the production, bringing with it a sense of longsuffering amidst a physical, emotional, and spiritual journey entirely encompassed in a northern vision-scape.
This happens to be one of those rare albums that had been left in the incubator of time, aging with perfection until its full maturity comes to completion. Guitarist, Niclas Buss (Hilastherion), vocalist, Simon Granlund, along with bass and keys, Emil Stenros founded Northern Flame back in 2003. By early 2004, the first demo was independently published. Now that the 10 year anniversary of their humble start has concluded, Nokternal Hemizphear is overly thrilled to bring you the final production of "Glimpse of Hope" in 2014.
Having weathered the burden of time in seeing their efforts realized with the culmination of "Glimpse of Hope" they banded together with other brothers to form a full band. The demos found some audiences and faded into Christian metal history as something that could have been much grander. Gathering a full ensemble of musicians, finally, the old demos "Northern Flame" 2004 and "White Winternight" 2005 were re-recorded and brought to life with epic fashion at the hands of God and the men of Northern Flame at three different studios in 2009. For those who have heard the old demos, you know the music of Northern Flame shined real promise and left an indelible impact in the hearts of all who had the opportunity to enjoy them. "Glimpse of Hope" is the full-length production that combines the old demos (minus two tracks) into a larger than life semi-conceptual adventure full of passion, emotion, truth, and grandeur. Grandeur in such a way that musically and lyrically portrays life as it is - a spiritual battle on all fronts. Praise, adoration, and cleansing collide with loneliness, depression, deception, realities of death and mortality, mixed with the overwhelming feeling of struggling with loss and grief all interwoven beneath the eternal skies that we toil amidst.
"I'm drowning in my thoughts, depressed with no hope at all"¦ I want to die away from my miseries, throw myself into a sea of love."
Passionately constructed epic ballads, touches of extreme elements, and the overall melodic power metal that is akin to yet set Northern Flame apart from Seventh Avenue, Narnia, Theocracy, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Hammerfall, and Divinefire are apparent throughout the album. Fans of such stellar power metal and progressive artists will absolutely love every second of this album and the emotional ride it takes you on. Sorrowful elements of Nightwish and Leave's Eyes with thrashing riffs to raise your fist and bang your head are precisely interwoven into the album at just the right moments, building tension alongside wondrous solos from the lightening-quick fingertips of guitarist Niclas Buss.
When an album melds together as one cohesive unit, track after track joining in unison to form a great story that strikes at the heart of all mankind, behold"¦ it is a rare gem. The fact that this album has been finally unearthed a decade later speaks even more so to its unique characteristics and value.
"The shadows have fallen down on us and evil has crowned itself again. All creation screams in tortured agony. But evil will not reign. The battle is already won. He who overcomes shall rise again, when twilight has come our way."
And then, a glimpse of hope on the horizon"¦ a new day is nigh"¦
"There will come a dawn of a white winternight when eternity descends and the darkness fades away. There will come a dawn of a white winternight when the King returns again!"

Lineup

Simon Granlund - Vocals
Niclas Buss (Hilastherion, Parakletos) - Guitars/Growls
Alexander Nybond - Guitars
Åke Holm - Bass/Backing Vocals
Jari Ketola (Hilastherion) - Drums
Trygve Strömvall (Hilastherion) - Keyboards/Backing Vocals