Nocturnal Rites "The Sacred Talisman"

The Sacred Talisman is the third album by Swedish power metal band Nocturnal Rites, their second on Century Media.

Nocturnal Rites started off as death metal, recording one demo and a promo in this style. After a few years their sound gradually became more melodic and by the time they released their 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.

Track listing

1. "Destiny Calls" - 3:58
2. "The Iron Force" - 4:20
3. "Ride On" - 3:16
4. "Free at Last" - 3:49
5. "Hold On to the Flame" - 4:08
6. "Eternity Holds" - 4:00
7. "When Fire Comes to Ice" - 3:48
8. "The Legend Lives On" - 5:57
9. "The King's Command" - 3:24
10. "Unholy Powers" - 3:12
11. "Glorious" - 3:23
12. "Journey through Time" (bonus track on the Japanese version)