Band:	Nightmare
Album:	The Burden Of God
Style:	Heavy metal, Power metal
Release date:	May 18, 2012
A review by:	Ag Fox

01. Gateways To The Void
02. Sunrise In Hell
03. The Burden Of God
04. Crimson Empire
05. Children Of The Nation
06. The Preacher
07. Shattered Hearts
08. The Doomsday Prediction
09. The Dominion Gate (Part III)
10. Final Outcome
11. Afterlife

Seeing that Nightmare have their own headlining shows in France, I guess they're pretty big there. However, internationally, they are nowhere near their fellow country mates that play more extreme forms of metal music like Gojira or Gorod, nor have they achieved the cult recognition Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega, just to name a few. This is probably because the bands mentioned above are all pioneers of some sort in their own niche, but that doesn't mean Nightmare doesn't have their own sound despite being loosely categorised as a heavy metal band.

Those familiar with Nightmare's more recent material should know that the brand of heavy metal they play is not focusing on the rocking theme or how masculine they sound. They just deliver the thick angry riffs that remind me of Iced Earth because of the thrashy edge. They also have some progression going on with symphonic parts scattered about, but the music is still very to-the-point without the need to wrap one's head around it to "get it". Needless to say, the performance of the musicians here are great, and the vocals are just sung in true heavy metal fashion that will surely have you tossing horns. Then there's the production: it just gives the whole record the extra bite it needs. You know, not too clean with an earthy sound, but the appropriate parts like the synths sound clear enough while sitting nicely in the background. Song writing-wise, The Burden Of God doesn't feel like a linear affair, nor does it rely on the occasional ballad to do that. The songs also feel more memorable than Insurrection and it's just one of those albums that makes me want to listen to it again after a while, indicating the long term replay value.

We are over halfway into 2012, and The Burden Of God is clearly my favourite heavy metal release from the first half of the year. If you claim to be a heavy metal fan, or used to be one and want something to rekindle your fire, this release by these French veterans will surely give you some great music to headbang to!