Review by Carl on October 15, 2024.

Whoa, this one packs a punch alright. We get the almighty Angelcorpse teaming up with the older-than-old-school black/death metallers Martire to deliver a slice of blackened hostility right across the face. I'm very sorry, but I'm just going to be dooling all over this one from here on.

The first kick in the arse comes from Angelcorpse, delivering a massive re-recording of a track off of their debut full length, as well as a blazing take on Sarcofago's "Desecration of Virgin". The original track showcases everything that Angelcorpse is known for: ripping guitar leads, sick intricate riffing coming at you at inhuman velocity as if this is Morbid Angel's final form, a musical execution performed like clockwork, and of course Pete Helmkamp's raw belching croak to wrap it all up together. The song plows ahead at reckless speed without losing grip on the precision playing showcased, and the final bow around this pulsing package comes in the form of a balanced out, powerful, and yet still gritty production, simply heaving with malice and menace. The Sarcofago cover is presented in pretty much the same way, with Angelcorpse amping up the speed and intensity of the original up to 11, doing this with ease. Are these two blasts of vitriolic aggression the perfect embodiment of death metal perfection? Could very well be, I say.

The second kick up the arse comes in the form of Australia's Martire, and they do their home country's reputation for extreme metal proud. They are a band equally as intense as Angelcorpse, but with their focus more on the bludgeoning force, and less on precision, landing them in the good company of bands like Bestial Warlust, Conqueror, and Blasphemy. They deliver two strikes of barbaric black/death, spurred on by blasting velocity and battering percussion, with a thick layer of hyperactive frenzied chainsaw guitar riffing, almost bordering on white noise at times. On top of this intense assault of high-speed sonic terrorism comes a dual raw bellowed vocal attack roaring over the mayhem at play, only leaving some space for the unhinged guitar leads in the vein of Deicide and Massacre. The production follows suit with a grainy, distorted soundmix that sounds utterly deranged, something that only increases the psychotic intensity at play. The raging guitars and tortured vocals take center stage, sounding demented as fuck, but with a downside that it pushes the drums into the background. The poor drummer is struggling to get through at times, but while this isn't optimal, it does sound absolutely nuts in combination with the rest of the music. Total Aussie madness, and I love it!!

This is one of those combinations that only happens once in a blue moon. The ferocious precision bombing of Angelcorpse versus the sonic barbarism of Martire, this is the stuff that I honestly live for. Everyone even remotely serious about black/death metal should take notice of this EP, as well as both bands' other output because this stuff is simply just that good.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on October 15, 2024.

Whoa, this one packs a punch alright. We get the almighty Angelcorpse teaming up with the older-than-old-school black/death metallers Martire to deliver a slice of blackened hostility right across the face. I'm very sorry, but I'm just going to be dooling all over this one from here on.

The first kick in the arse comes from Angelcorpse, delivering a massive re-recording of a track off of their debut full length, as well as a blazing take on Sarcofago's "Desecration of Virgin". The original track showcases everything that Angelcorpse is known for: ripping guitar leads, sick intricate riffing coming at you at inhuman velocity as if this is Morbid Angel's final form, a musical execution performed like clockwork, and of course Pete Helmkamp's raw belching croak to wrap it all up together. The song plows ahead at reckless speed without losing grip on the precision playing showcased, and the final bow around this pulsing package comes in the form of a balanced out, powerful, and yet still gritty production, simply heaving with malice and menace. The Sarcofago cover is presented in pretty much the same way, with Angelcorpse amping up the speed and intensity of the original up to 11, doing this with ease. Are these two blasts of vitriolic aggression the perfect embodiment of death metal perfection? Could very well be, I say.

The second kick up the arse comes in the form of Australia's Martire, and they do their home country's reputation for extreme metal proud. They are a band equally as intense as Angelcorpse, but with their focus more on the bludgeoning force, and less on precision, landing them in the good company of bands like Bestial Warlust, Conqueror, and Blasphemy. They deliver two strikes of barbaric black/death, spurred on by blasting velocity and battering percussion, with a thick layer of hyperactive frenzied chainsaw guitar riffing, almost bordering on white noise at times. On top of this intense assault of high-speed sonic terrorism comes a dual raw bellowed vocal attack roaring over the mayhem at play, only leaving some space for the unhinged guitar leads in the vein of Deicide and Massacre. The production follows suit with a grainy, distorted soundmix that sounds utterly deranged, something that only increases the psychotic intensity at play. The raging guitars and tortured vocals take center stage, sounding demented as fuck, but with a downside that it pushes the drums into the background. The poor drummer is struggling to get through at times, but while this isn't optimal, it does sound absolutely nuts in combination with the rest of the music. Total Aussie madness, and I love it!!

This is one of those combinations that only happens once in a blue moon. The ferocious precision bombing of Angelcorpse versus the sonic barbarism of Martire, this is the stuff that I honestly live for. Everyone even remotely serious about black/death metal should take notice of this EP, as well as both bands' other output because this stuff is simply just that good.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on October 15, 2024.

Whoa, this one packs a punch alright. We get the almighty Angelcorpse teaming up with the older-than-old-school black/death metallers Martire to deliver a slice of blackened hostility right across the face. I'm very sorry, but I'm just going to be dooling all over this one from here on.

The first kick in the arse comes from Angelcorpse, delivering a massive re-recording of a track off of their debut full length, as well as a blazing take on Sarcofago's "Desecration of Virgin". The original track showcases everything that Angelcorpse is known for: ripping guitar leads, sick intricate riffing coming at you at inhuman velocity as if this is Morbid Angel's final form, a musical execution performed like clockwork, and of course Pete Helmkamp's raw belching croak to wrap it all up together. The song plows ahead at reckless speed without losing grip on the precision playing showcased, and the final bow around this pulsing package comes in the form of a balanced out, powerful, and yet still gritty production, simply heaving with malice and menace. The Sarcofago cover is presented in pretty much the same way, with Angelcorpse amping up the speed and intensity of the original up to 11, doing this with ease. Are these two blasts of vitriolic aggression the perfect embodiment of death metal perfection? Could very well be, I say.

The second kick up the arse comes in the form of Australia's Martire, and they do their home country's reputation for extreme metal proud. They are a band equally as intense as Angelcorpse, but with their focus more on the bludgeoning force, and less on precision, landing them in the good company of bands like Bestial Warlust, Conqueror, and Blasphemy. They deliver two strikes of barbaric black/death, spurred on by blasting velocity and battering percussion, with a thick layer of hyperactive frenzied chainsaw guitar riffing, almost bordering on white noise at times. On top of this intense assault of high-speed sonic terrorism comes a dual raw bellowed vocal attack roaring over the mayhem at play, only leaving some space for the unhinged guitar leads in the vein of Deicide and Massacre. The production follows suit with a grainy, distorted soundmix that sounds utterly deranged, something that only increases the psychotic intensity at play. The raging guitars and tortured vocals take center stage, sounding demented as fuck, but with a downside that it pushes the drums into the background. The poor drummer is struggling to get through at times, but while this isn't optimal, it does sound absolutely nuts in combination with the rest of the music. Total Aussie madness, and I love it!!

This is one of those combinations that only happens once in a blue moon. The ferocious precision bombing of Angelcorpse versus the sonic barbarism of Martire, this is the stuff that I honestly live for. Everyone even remotely serious about black/death metal should take notice of this EP, as well as both bands' other output because this stuff is simply just that good.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

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

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