Nexus Polaris

Last updated
Nexus Polaris
Nexus Polaris CD Cover.jpg
Studio album by
Covenant
Released24 March 1998
RecordedAugust–September 1997
StudioWoodhouse Studios, Hagen, Germany
Genre Symphonic black metal, melodic black metal
Length43:32
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Siggi Bemm
Covenant chronology
In Times Before the Light
(1997)		Nexus Polaris
(1998)		 Animatronic
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Chronicles of Chaos 8/10 [2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 8/10 [3]
Rock Hard 9.0/10 [4]
Sputnikmusic 4/5 [5]

Nexus Polaris is the second studio album by the Norwegian metal band Covenant, and was released in 1998 through Nuclear Blast.

Contents

This is the final album that the band would release under their Covenant name, as the following year the group would change their name to The Kovenant, where they would begin performing electronic/industrial metal as opposed to symphonic black metal.

Album history

The original album In Times Before the Light was successful at staging a fan base in the black metal scene in Norway. Nagash and Blackheart had greater ambitions for the band and wanted better production and pay for their music. Record label Nuclear Blast caught eye of the band and Covenant (as the band was known at that time) signed with them.

Starting the new album, Nagash and Blackheart wanted to form an actual band this time. They enlisted guitarist, Astennu (who was playing in Dimmu Borgir at the time with Nagash), keyboardist Sverd (of Arcturus), Sarah Jezebel Deva (of Cradle of Filth and other bands), and Hellhammer (of Mayhem). Nagash took over bass and vocal duties, while Blackheart played guitar.

Thanks to Nuclear Blast's promotion, Nexus Polaris was successful and allowed Covenant to do a two-week tour and to be on Norwegian national television for six days. Covenant were nominated for a Norwegian Grammy, whose ceremony they attended winning for Best Hard Rock band, the first ever. This performance also signed Covenant's shift, moving from black metal to a more industrial metal sound.

A re-release of Nexus Polaris was made in 2002. The original tracks were left untouched (unlike the remixed edition of In Times Before the Light, also from 2002), but two versions of "New World Order", a song from their 1999 album Animatronic , were included as a bonus. [6]

On 11 April 2024, The Kovenant posted on their Facebook page their intention of performing Nexus Polaris live in its entirety, starting in Eindhoven, The Netherlands on 13 and 14 of December. The caption read "The first of many. Coming soon to a city near you. Nexus set plus songs from In Times Before The Light and Animatronic teasing more shows coming up in the future.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."The Sulphur Feast"04:10
2."Bizarre Cosmic Industries"05:51
3."Planetarium"04:01
4."The Last of Dragons"06:28
5."Bringer of the Sixth Sun"06:32
6."Dragonheart"04:52
7."Planetary Black Elements"05:50
8."Chariots of Thunder"05:48
Total length:43:32
2000 re-release bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
9."New World Order" (Clubmix)04:26
10."New World Order" (Metalmix)03:53
Total length:51:51

Personnel

Additional personnel

References

  1. ↑ Ravelin, Antti J. "Nexus Polaris - Kovenant review". AllMusic . Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  2. ↑ Azevedo, Pedro (14 March 1999). "Covenant - Nexus Polaris". Chronicles of Chaos . Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  3. ↑ Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 89. ISBN   978-1-894959-62-9.
  4. ↑ "Review Dynamit: Covenant - Nexus Polaris". Rock Hard (in German). No. 130. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  5. ↑ P, Ryan (29 June 2011). "The Kovenant - Nexus Polaris". Sputnikmusic . Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  6. ↑ Nexus Polaris on Metal Storm
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.