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Nightmare - The Burden Of God review



Reviewer:
8.5

34 users:
7.59
Band: Nightmare
Album: The Burden Of God
Release date: May 2012


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!


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 9





Written on 30.06.2012 by Ag Fox loves listening to music but is far from being a prolific writer. This corner just shows how territorial he is.


Comments

Comments: 8   Visited by: 267 users
30.06.2012 - 11:38
Rating: 7
Milena
gloom cookie
This was on my radar, as I remember hearing some previous Nightmare album and liking it. Things are shaping up to be not-too-bad in the trad metal section this year.
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7.0 means the album is good
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30.06.2012 - 13:17
Rating: 9
Ag Fox
Angel No More
Written by Milena on 30.06.2012 at 11:38

This was on my radar, as I remember hearing some previous Nightmare album and liking it. Things are shaping up to be not-too-bad in the trad metal section this year.
maybe it's a slight change in my preference in melodic metal, but this one really comes together as being a better release than the previous one for me
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loves 小巫
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30.06.2012 - 15:20
WorpeX
Made of Metal
I enjoyed Genetic Disorder, haven't heard anything from Nightmare since. I might have to check this one out after reading this! Thanks Ag Fox for the well written review!
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01.07.2012 - 23:04
Tristus Scriptor
Rancid Reviewer
I freakin' love this album!!! It's like an evil version of Firewind.
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02.07.2012 - 20:11
Rating: 8
R'Vannith
ghedengi
"Thrashy edge", thank you that's all I needed to hear, I'm checking this out ASAP! You make the production sound ideal for the job too, your nice clear review tells me what I need to know.
I remember hearing one of these guys' albums "Cosmovision", didn't really enjoy it much. Hopefully they've improved since then.
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02.07.2012 - 21:02
Rating: 9
Ag Fox
Angel No More
Written by R'Vannith on 02.07.2012 at 20:11

"Thrashy edge", thank you that's all I needed to hear, I'm checking this out ASAP! You make the production sound ideal for the job too, your nice clear review tells me what I need to know.
I remember hearing one of these guys' albums "Cosmovision", didn't really enjoy it much. Hopefully they've improved since then.
thank you! please let me know how you get on with it then (=
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loves 小巫
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12.07.2012 - 10:50
Rating: 8
R'Vannith
ghedengi
This is my kind of Power metal, makes that nice blend of traditional or heavy metal with a thrash influenced power metal typical of the US side of the genre. Plus there's the whole Symphonic aspect to top it off. The vocals work well most of the time, he's far from the best I've heard but the style suits the music well. I think the best parts are reliant on those, as the music itself, while being something which I like aren't all that exceptional. The best parts are in the tracks "The Preacher", "Shattered Hearts" and "The Doomsday Prediction".
And the guest vocals of Magali Luyten (I always forget her name) on The Dominion Gate were a nice surprise!
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13.07.2012 - 17:59
Rating: 9
Ag Fox
Angel No More
Written by R'Vannith on 12.07.2012 at 10:50

This is my kind of Power metal, makes that nice blend of traditional or heavy metal with a thrash influenced power metal typical of the US side of the genre. Plus there's the whole Symphonic aspect to top it off. The vocals work well most of the time, he's far from the best I've heard but the style suits the music well. I think the best parts are reliant on those, as the music itself, while being something which I like aren't all that exceptional. The best parts are in the tracks "The Preacher", "Shattered Hearts" and "The Doomsday Prediction".
And the guest vocals of Magali Luyten (I always forget her name) on The Dominion Gate were a nice surprise!
happy that you enjoyed it :3
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loves 小巫
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