When it comes to discordant, atonal, nightmarish, murky, chaotic, atmospheric death metal, Canada has Gorguts , Poland has Redemptor, England has Abyssal, Spain has Altarage, Portugal has The Ominous Circle,  The Netherlands has Dodecahedron, Denmark has Phrenelith, Finland has Corpsessed, New Zealand has Ulcerate, Australia has Portal, Switzerland has Schammasch And now the US has Nightmarer. 

With the aptly tittles Cacophony of Terror, the debut album from Nightmarer will see the band quickly enter elite status, and that may come as a surprise to some considering the bloodlines are John Collett of Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky (also ex Dehumanized and ex Gigan) and two ex dudes from German deathcore/pseudo grind/noise mongers War From a Harlots Mouth. 

All the bands in my opening paragraph stand as contemporaries and peers for Nightmarer’s discordant, tumbling death metal miasma filtered through Deathspell Omega. But a clear,  but punishing production and guitar tone, and the occasional moment of Floridian (Discarnate comes to mind) death metal restraint allows the material to be not utterly suffocating, but more of a controlled, slow sonic waterboarding.

From opening instrumental “The Descent” to short closing vortex of “Swansong”, ( there is a bonus industrial remix of “Cave Digger” tacked on the and of the album) the album’s succinct 30 minute or so run time is never wasted on too much nauseating ambiance or build but direct riffs bifurcated into churning, atonal tidal waves (“Stahlwald”, “Ceremony of Control”, “Swansong”, “Fetisch”, close of “Death”) or lumbering, lurching, staggering discordance (“Skinner”). And it’s these thunderously oozing latter  moments where the album’s tendrils  truly grasp you as the likes of “Bleach”, “Cave Digger”, “Death” and  last part of monstrous “Tidal Waves of Terror” where the heaving, more controlled dense murk has a more effective, oppressive presence.

Collet has the expected cavernous growl, but it’s surprisingly decipherable, and the meld of clarity and chaos is delivered with powerful confidence, without too much wasted ambiance or sheer noise. Its essentially a perfect addition to Season of Mist’s roster (I’m surprised Dark Descent didn’t snatch these guys up) , and its one of 2018s more imposing, impressive releases.

[Visit the band's website]

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