Record Label: Nothing But A Nightmare/Revelation Records
Genre: Metal
Band Link: www.nothingbutanightmare.com
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The first actual song (after a throwaway intro) is pretty awesome –metal, hardcore, punk, goth, and industrial combined in a way that is oddly pleasing and coherent. The tinny industrial sound gives the feel of being thrown in an angry hornet’s nest, the vocals are gothy, and the ensuing dark wave of noise is nothing short of brilliant.

The next couple of tracks retain some of that glorious mashup, but inject more emo and clean, “actual” singing that this aging rocker has decreed is wussy and uncool. It’s not a deal-breaker here – the vocals are decent and I suppose it’s good to be able to make out the lyrics, but it definitely smooths out their edge.

Sadly, the album gets progressively slower and duller. Early on, it goes from metal/metalcore to emo-y grunge, and then devolves more into ballads and slow, plodding filler. The last 10 minutes are so ambient, I didn’t even know the CD was still on. At least a third of this album’s 45-minute run is quiet soundscape that serves no purpose.

I was blown away by that early track (“Discord”) and soon became disappointed when no other track came close. These guys are capable of mixing up aggressive styles in a cohesive and melodic way, and their musicianship (particularly the guitars) is quite good. It sounds though that they only had one truly good song in them.

Bottom Line: Lock them in a room with some Ministry.
Notable Tracks: Discord
Overall Rating: