Country of origin: Sweden Location: Umeå, Västerbotten Status: Active Formed in: 1990 Genre: Power Metal Themes: Fantasy, Science fiction, Society, Personal struggles Current label: AFM Records Years active: 1990 (as Necronomic), 1990-present Nocturnal Rites started off as death metal, recording some demos and promos in this style. After a few years, their sound gradually became more melodic and by the time they released the first album they were playing power metal. Mattias Bernhardsson played keyboards on the first two albums on a session basis before being added to the official line-up for The Sacred Talisman, Afterlife, and Shadowland, after which he left. Keyboards are now for the most part played by Henrik Kjellberg. Fredrik Mannberg played lead guitar until Nils Norberg joined the band. He has almost exclusively played rhythm since then. He was also the band's vocalist until 1993. Renowned artist Pär Olofsson did the artwork for one of their T-shirts. Logo and symbol by Fredrik Mannberg.