Well well well, what a nice surprise from France. It seems that this country is finally awaking and really nice to hear some great albums from France this year. Dyslesia delivered a nice album, then Heavenly blew everything away in the matters of speed metal this year by dropping a release that can only be compared to an atomic bomb ! Now it's time for Nightmare to add an asset for the French people on the Power Metal category.

Nightmare is an old band, that reemerges today in 2001 to deliver a Power Metal release up to date with today's sound and feel. The band plays a a very powerful metal, with lots of orchestrations (keyboards), and a sound spectrum almost full. The band's influence are without any doubts GammaRay & Judas Priest (amongst others). The singer's voice is a bit special, he's okay, but he's probably the weak spot of the band and will need to improve a bit. He delivers some nice high pitched screams then and there, but his vocals lacks some range if compared to Kai for example. The guitars riffs and solos are really beautiful and Nightmare demonstrates a really original and mature song-writing. The song variety is quite good, from fast and melodic to square songs à la Judas (The Church). The songs are melodic and very epic with a lot of choirs (especially on bridges and choruses). There is an atmosphere added to the songs, added with the keyboards, that adds this little plus, giving Nightmare an edge of originality.

The production is quite good, powerful and clear sound to deliver an enjoyable raw sound. The artwork is once again a magnificent illustration from the French artist J.-P. Fournier, who demonstrates once again the extent of his talents.

Nightmare delivers a very good surprise here, and I hope they'll continue upon that direction. If Power Metal is your game, then I suggest you check out this talented formation called Nightmare. Keep up the good work guys !