Review by Jack on November 4, 2004.

Unbelievably these guys have been around since 1979 and equally unbelievable is how much of an edge these guys have in contemporary power metal compared to their peers.

Power metal is arguably the hardest genre to compete in through the metal world. Why? Well if you would draw a line through all the power metal bands globally you'd be likely to find that there is not a huge deviation between each band. Each act is more than competent in playing their instruments and it's also pretty easy to glean that these same power metal bands are finding it difficult to come up with revolutionary and fresh ideas to separate themselves from "Clone X" or "Clone Y."

Nightmare are not the revolutionary band that I am alluding to, but rather they set themselves apart from the rest via a huge amount of experience and with Silent Room, an interesting concept record about the life of a schizophrenic teenage boy that taps into an online computer game which blurs the lines of fiction and reality. To cut things short, this teenager goes on an online killing rampage which translates into countless death in reality. Sure it doesn't sound -that- groundbreaking, but after being served up countless records about minotaurs and goblins it sure makes for a refreshing change of concept.

Of course this initiative wouldn't mean shit if it wasn't backed up by some sort of musical aptitude, and fortunately Nightmare deliver. Vocalist Jo's voice is crisp and slightly rough, nothing really to distinguish it from hundreds of other power clones, but he serves Nightmare's sound really well on Silent Room. The same can be said for the other four guys in Nightmare. No outstanding musicians that are into musical wankery, just five guys who come together nicely as a unit.

Mid-tempo power metal with a nice selection of tempo changes that tells an uncommon story, different from the plethora of 'fantasy' power metal topics. Power metal fans would do well to check this out, but I doubt those who aren't into this type of music will find anything new to get excited about with Silent Room.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10