Israel has been mostly known around the world by its Middle Eastern music, mostly because of the close proximity to Arabians neighboring countries, but hey don't let that fact fool you. There were many metal bands that already stepped on Israeli ground, from DIO to KREATOR, gathering all the Metal genres that can be.

On the 9.7.2012, the second part of the "Heavy Metal Tel-Aviv" mini festival took place. The first part of this mini festival took place in 30.8.2012 (already reported here on this website by Eldad "Blacknasa" Stainbook) presenting SABATON, for the third time, along with the local opening act, DESERT. The second entry of this event brought back, for the third time as well, the veteran French Heavy Metal band, NIGHTMARE, along with the local opening act, REBURN. Throughout the years, especially the last decade, it has been known that due to both political and financial reasons, it has been hard to bring over to Israel new Metal bands, aside from the same bands over and over. Thankfully Israel has Raven Metal, led by Yishai Sweartz, for contributing so much with money, energy, blood and great will for the Israeli Metal scene with flying over these bands. On the other hand, Raven Metal also proved that with the right publicity and feeding the fans with tons of info and videos, nearly every new or mid level band can be landed in Israel with enough fans to attend the concerts. I think that this is an important aspect to wonder about.

Before I will get into the concert review, I have to share with you that I was definitely disappointed from the amount of attendees. I was expecting more than 200 people to be present, but it seemed that less than a 100 arrived. I think that it is a shame to for a band like NIGHTMARE, that after being in the Metal market for more than 30 years and also that it is their third time over here, to receive such a faulty treatment from the Israeli scene, which could have been more welcoming with additional fans coming over sharing their appreciation for this French icon.

The evening opened with the supporting / warm up act named REBURN, a local Heavy Metal / Hard Rock band, which was once called BURN and mainly played tribute gigs for older giants as RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE and sorts. Under the REBURN name, this group began writing original material while also broadening their lineup with great local musicians. That evening REBURN's chief act was playing tribute to BLACK SABBATH, aside from their own material. Throughout their tribute set, REBURN presented songs from the Ozzy and Dio years with cool examples as "Snowblind", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", "Children Of The Sea" (Also with the guest performance of Jo Amore of NIGHTMARE), "Heaven & Hell". In general, I enjoyed watching them performing these classics and in a way they did them justice. It wasn't perfect, as there were mishaps, but still good in overall. In between the classics of SABBATH, REBURN showcased their own new treasures. However, as their songs progressed one by one, long moment after another, I got bored a bit. I am all in favor of new creations and to listen to new bands, but what went on stage didn't give me much comfort. REBURN walked the same lanes as their idols, RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE, adding several Progressive Rock elements with traditional Metal. Generally, I listened to some great ideas, yet their material felt not fully organized and pretty disoriented. There were moments where I bit my tongue or just waited them to be over. I would say that there quite a potential, but it needs to be worked on. Furthermore, what I think was one of the major reasons for several of REBURN's live shortcomings was the sound production. The house soundman over at the Sublime Club forgot to come to work that day (just a phrase of course), he didn't seem to care whether the performing would hear itself on stage or not or how they would sound to the house's crowd. I noticed that I could barely hear the rhythm guitars, solos included, and also that it came to moment where the lead vocalist nearly choked probably because he couldn't hear himself singing due to a lack of a working monitor for himself on stage. I would say that it is a shame for any band to be treated by a soundman like that (Gladly that NIGHTMARE had their own soundwoman). On the whole, REBURN performed well and showed potential.

After REBURN stepped down, it took nearly 20 minutes for the treat of the evening to take its place on stage. NIGHTMARE's gig meant also to celebrate the release of their new album "The Burden of God", viaAFM Records. The concert opened with the new album's intro, which served as a kicker for the album's scorcher, "Sunrise in Hell". The fans weren't indifferent and showed that even as few that they were, the noise of many could be felt and heard. Even with the band's soundwoman, the house's sound still wasn't 100%, and I am sure that with a little more effort NIGHTMARE could have sounded much better. NIGHTMARE continued with one of the greatest songs from the "Insurrection" album named "Eternal Winter". The performance was amazing, Jo Amore knew how to excite and captivate the audience even in such a small club. His vocal abilities have always surprised me in the band's albums and I must say that he sounded much better alive. He reached higher notes in such accuracy as if it was so easy, an element that gave the songs a boost and from time to time I thought to myself that I am in a sort of a weird vocal tango between Carl Albert (VICIOUS RUMORS) and Rob Halford  (JUDAS PRIEST).

Between songs Amore tried talking to the crowd with several words in Hebrew, French and English but the most understandable language was the Metal playing which united us all together and enjoying this amazing band. "The Burden of God" was the next one, they played it up tight, straightforward Heavy Metal, part of that machine performance was thanks to their drummer David Amore that showed an incredible performance on the skins. Their guitar players, Franck Milleliri & Matt Asselberghs, demonstrated great abilities providing full entertainment with tremendous energies alongside the veteran bass player, Yves Campion, who was very dominant.

NIGHTMARE played nearly 2 hours, showcasing songs from both their early and late years. You could hear songs like the closing "Trust A Crowd", from the first album. The concert was good, there was a good vibe between the band and the crowd, a good connection, also because it is not the first time they are here but what was missing is the Metal fans' compliance to attend. I definitely know that NIGHTMARE enjoyed playing here and gave their best, even in a tiny venue.