Email the reviewerNightmare, "Silent Room"
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one, but the pieces quickly fell into place. Nightmare are a French band who’ve been around forever (okay, just since the early 80’s) and reformed after a 12 year hiatus in the late 1990’s. And what do you know, they play melodic metal; I was almost fooled by the cover. Okay, so I’m not up on my relatively obscure French melodic metal bands from the 1980’s… talk about an esoteric data set!... so I’m not sure how this one compares to their earlier output. But how does it compare to the hordes of metal bands currently scaling the walls of commericial viability?
Nightmare aren’t going to be knocking off any of the metal lords, but they do make a good showing, befitting a band with this much experience. Jo Amore’s vocals prick the ears right away, he’s got a gritty voice which really works well with the music. When he’s backed up by the “big choir sound”, the contrast is excellent. Everyone else can play well enough, of course; bands don’t get this far without quality metal warriors manning the parapets. The guitar work is up front, helping to give an aggressive feel to the compositions. Alex Hilbert and Nicko De Dominicis are adept at the different styles necessary for this songs to succeed; good rhythm playing and melodically sound solos (around the 3:30 mark in “Prisoner of the System is a good example). A lot of the aggression comes from the pacing of the guitars, which don’t always race along even if drums (David Amore) and bass (Yves Campion) are quick stepping it. I guess that’s how they avoid the power metal tag; it’s splitting hairs though, since it’s certainly got power elements. I’m getting sick of the endless metal subdivisions… it’s all one metal ghetto to me these days.
It’s a concept album centered on a guy addicted to a MMORPG (or Massive Multi Player Online Role Playing Game) when things go terribly wrong. Everquest widows everywhere, this is the soundtrack to your life! The story unfolds logically enough; I won’t ruin the experience by delving into it. All in all, this is often quite good music, though it’s not going to incite the hordes to riot. Solid playing, a concept that’s not based on Atlantis (thank you…!), and clean production; what more can one ask for? Vive la French melodic metal scene!
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