Nightmare – Encrypted
Release Date: 7th June 2024
Label: AFM Records
Order/Stream
Genre: Power Metal, Heavy Metal.
FFO: Helloween, Grave Digger, Angra.
Review By: Kira L. Schlechter
Is the third frontwoman the charm for the veteran French power metal band Nightmare?
Singer Barbara Mogore makes her debut with the band on their latest, “Encrypted,” their third with a female vocalist and their first since 2020s “Aeternam” (with former singer Madie, who in turn replaced Maggy Luyten). Guitarists Franck Milleliri and Matt Asselbergs (who also sings), bassist/vocalist Yves Campion, and drummer Niels Quiais round out the line-up.
The band said of the opening track, “Nexus Inferis,” “what if the end was just the beginning or a passage to hell?” And indeed it’s a musing on that idea, with all the lyrical juxtaposition you’d expect – “never was in hell before/Heaven’s not behind my door,” Barbara sings in her muscular, gritty midrange; later in the chorus, she wonders, “Am I a saint, am I a sinner?” The bridge really hammers home the theme: “In death, can I find the answer/And how do I get to the light/Do I have to restart all over?” There’s plenty of shifting musical moods here, from the moody chug of the intro to the stepped-up tempo of the verses to the light introspection after the bridge.
An almost orchestral-style melody undercuts the spitting riffs of “The Blossom of My Hate,” which alternates throughout between Barbara’s singing and harsh vocals (it’s not said if it’s Yves or Matt). The title seems to refer to the genesis of hate that comes after a betrayal, and the harsh vocals serve as a sarcastic reflection on the bitterness that came out of that betrayal: “Isn’t it funny how the mind is made/Switching so easily from luminous to fade/The words are heavy, intentions are pretty/But as quick as needed they will be erased.” Barbara’s chorus shows that forgiveness won’t be coming any time soon, since “the blossom of my hate is now becoming your fate.” Her voice doesn’t ever step much out of that midrange – and that’s the case throughout – but it’s effective in conveying the song’s snide emotion.
“Voices from the Other Side” is an intriguingly complex track lyrically and musically. Its trudging tempo is the constant, but its structure is amorphous – there is a delineated chorus and pre-chorus, but any verses or bridges are not as defined, which gives it a tense, unsettled feeling. It’s definitely a political statement, though, Barbara pleading in the chorus, “Oh please save us from ourselves/To end the genocide.” In the pre-chorus, when she sings, “calling the savior,” the “voice from the other side” (a clean male vocal), answers, but he’s not promising any solutions: “Are you begging for help?/There is no savior, no way to turn the tide.”
“Saviours of the Damned,” with its slippery rhythm, is also commentary, this time on climate change and how “history repeats on and on/The burden of the past.” It places the burden of change on the individual – “You are the future and the past/You are the draining hourglass” (an effective image) – those “saviours” seem to be observers, whose “warnings (were) no deterrent.” The bit of hope in the bridge changes the final chorus from dire to borderline encouraging.
“Wake the Night” is a highlight here, set to a meaty groove and Barbara’s hypnotic near-drone. It seems to be about finding solace or positivity in dark times. The verses mark the process to introspection; the pre-chorus, different each time, brightens in anticipation (“Changing the law of fate/Chasing the sun” and “Changing the game of life/Chasing the light”), and the chorus is the solution – “feeding the flame/To shine in the dark … We wanna reach our aim/We just need a spark.” The faster solo is notable for its taut swing, its punchy drumming, and its effortless slide back into the original groove.
The title track has only one verse; it makes its point with its pre-chorus and chorus. It has an erratic, off rhythm, and sometimes the drumming gets muted, so it’s hard to latch on to. It refers to “a little voice that rises,” one’s conscience, maybe – “Don’t try to hide your lies,” it warns, “Cause you know I’ll be there.” So the idea of the title, “Encrypted,” makes sense with the shouted line, “We are encrypted/The world is encrypted” – that is to say concealed. We conceal and are also concealed. But the song feels a little incomplete at times, especially at the end – you want it to repeat those two “encrypted” lines to seal its point, but it doesn’t.
“Incandescent” too has just one verse. It could refer to the ending of some relationship (“I need to get back/When you did care,” Barbara sings), the struggle that follows (“Nothing’s left behind/Inner world is hard to find”), and the ultimate realization that “Maybe it is true/You’re born to make it anew,” but it’s not completely clear. How the word “incandescent” (that is, “emitting light as a result of being heated”) fits in thematically is also a bit of a mystery.
For Nightmare, song construction is directly related to thematic clarity – the more conventional the structure, the more apparent the theme. That’s certainly the case with “White Lines,” which seems to tackle immigration. Its memorable guitar melody and Niels’ sensitive drumming are the background to Barbara’s tale of a determined migrant, learning as they go (“Every country, every landscape/Are in my head, refueling me/Perpetual motion and lost emotions/Are my luxury”), following those “white lines” and “crossing the borders.”
“Borderlines” might continue in the same vein, perhaps of immigration or racism or being an outsider from within. It also makes do with a lone verse, the main thrust of the song coming from the chorus, where the character asks, “Is there a place where I can shine?” and notes, “We’re walking on the edge/How can you ignore this rage?” The tone of that chorus at the end changes, though, from hopeful the first time through to decidedly less optimistic the last two run-throughs. It’s an interesting touch.
The album ends with “Eternal Winter,” a revamp of the 2009 “Insurrection” song originally sung by Joe Amore. Why do this particular song (another commentary on climate change and nuclear holocaust) and why with this particular female singer, since Barbara is their third? It seems a bit random. Arrangement-wise, it’s fairly similar, if with a bit more guitar melodies and more overdubbing in the chorus and the addition of harsh vocals in the second verse and piano in the outro. The chorus is equally chilling in both versions, but Joe had a good deal more drama and range in his take than Barbara has here, to be honest.
“Encrypted” is a solid, if at times uneven, effort. Barbara does tend to sound fairly similar throughout, and she does get a bit buried in the mix, especially on choruses. Perhaps when this iteration of Nightmare finds more of a firm footing together, they’ll take more chances and branch out.
(4 / 5)
