Review by Alex Grindor on September 9, 2021.

From Tampa, the collective known by Nightmarer has unleashed their latest EP just a couple of weeks ago, and it is an absolute recommendation for fans of dissonant, avant-garde tech-death that delivers appropriately its dose of horror and majesty.

Wasting no time from the beginning, the first track abruptly slithers forth. ‘Ecstasis (Baptismal Tomb)’ erupts in jarring harmonization and frenzied drumming at full speed, wasting no time as things grow more intense from here on. The guitars are well executed, with lots of jarring chords and dissonant harmonies thrown here and there throughout the entire EP. The bass is somewhat perceptible as it tends to happen so often with this style it is buried under the whole sound and taking in consideration the amount of complex guitar riffs and chords played here, it's buried even more. Yet its presence is there and can be felt to a degree.

Drums are well executed here. Abrupt time changes are done perfectly in the brink of a second without any seeming issue. And while it may be full speed ahead, it is in the next two tracks that it shows what its capable of when it comes to variety. Vocals are nothing particularly innovative, but I like that the voice in particular is not that low, and the words are somewhat perceptible due to this. It is a slight breath of fresh air but as stated, its performance is nothing new at all.

Production-wise, everything is pristine (perhaps a bit too much) and clear enough. Drums especially are mixed very well without drowning the rest of the instruments. What I did like overall was the pacing of the record. Instead of just going full speed for three consecutive tracks, Nightmarer decided to make a consecutive descent in their music, as the pace slows down in each track. ‘Ecstasis (Baptismal Tomb)’ sounds like something Deathspell Omega would do with its overall frantic playing, ‘Metastasis (Primordial Grit)’ has a more controlled paced and delivery and ‘Stasis (Obliterated Shrine)’ is a dissonant doom piece that goes even slower than its preceding track. And while every track slows down, the intensity is constant at every turn. It is a very well-done change of pace in the record, as it becomes heavier by the last track.

With 3 tracks and a runtime of near 13 minutes, the overall pace and intensity displayed here is worth every second of it. If you enjoy stuff like Gorguts, Periphery, Pyrrhon, Deathspell Omega and similar bands, you have something new to add to your collection. The overall sound may be too clean for my personal taste and the duration of the record is quite short, but these issues are set aside by the quality and heaviness of the whole music. It is absolutely worth checking out.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10