Worth a Listen
Mr D. | Cave Creek, Az United States | 09/16/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Seventeen years after their debut album, `Power from the Universe,' Nightmare releases their fourth album, Silent Room. Though it's Probably closer to heavy metal than power metal, Nightmare's new release, Silent Room is certainly easy on the ears. Silent Room is a melodic concept album with shadowy textures and sinister harmonies. Singer Jo Almore`s gravelly Sammy Hagar sounding voice lends credence to the gloomy story line.
Though they have been in existence for many years, they have made some major changes in for the last two albums. First, our, now middle aged, musicians turned over the singing to their former drummer, Jo Amore who has turned over the percussion to his younger brother David. Though guitarists Nicolas De Dominicis and Jeannot Strippoli, maintain a mostly galloping Heavy Metal beat, they've added some background vocals by band members and a five member choir and thirdly the songs are very well written.
The album contains 13 songs - one of which is a cover version of the Vicious Rumors classic `Ship of Fools.' The music is presented in a medium to medium fast speed and is augmented with orchestral instrumentation and choral background vocals. Most of the songs have a strong rhythm section, either bass or guitar.
Nightmare is a French Power Metal band, who have been around for awhile, starting with their first album twenty years ago. Their previous album called Cosmovision is also good and I have reviewed it at length. A new album called The Dominion Gate was released February 2006.
Conclusion
Silent Room is actually a concept album about a young high schooler named Kenny, who spends every spare moment playing video games to his overall long-term determent. (I'll bet that never happens.) Eventually, he is pushed to commit murder at the instruction of the game-master of an interactive video game.
These guys have been together for over twenty years so their music is pretty tight. Though some may disagree, they remind me to some degree of Iron Maiden of the galloping beats and full rhythms.
Similar Bands: Iron Maiden, Balance of Power, Mob Rules, Dawn Rider, Triumph."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1