Nightmare has a long history that begins in 1979. Their first big moment came in March 1983 when they were the opening act in Def Leppard's Pyromania Tour on the Grenoble show in front of  4000 fans. After that, the band got signed to Ebony Records in 1984 and recorded their debut, Waiting For The Twilight...
Nightmare soon found their way into the Japanese charts (The album was also released in Greece by Virgin Records). Afterwards, the quintette hired a new singer, Jean-Marie Boix (ex - Bronx), who brought new impulse to the band with his powerful voice. With this new addition, Jean Strippoli (guitar), Nicolas De Dominicis (guitar), Yves Campion (bass), Jo Amore (drums) recorded their second album, Power Of The Universe.
Years later, Nightmare rose from their ashes. Jo Amore trades his drum kit for a microphone and passes the sticks to his brother David Amore. Nicolas De Dominicis and Jeannot Strippoli accept the guitar responsibilities, while Yves Campion straps on his bass guitar to complete the new line-up.Nightmare returns to the studio in July 1999 to record Astral Deliverance and include a special dedication to Jean-Marie Boix, who tragically died on April 19, 1999 at the age of 36.
The new album Cosmovision was released on the 10th of October through Napalm Records. Symphonic power metal strikes again. It has been recorded at the SoundSuite studio with Norwegian producer Terje Refsnes on the helm (Alastis, Tristania, Morgul e.t.c.).
Patrick Rondat (Elegy, Consortium Project) appears on the song Spirit Of The Sunset as special guest. The mastering has been made in Germany at the well known Digital Mastering Studio (DMS) by Ulf Horbelt. The album cover has been designed by famous French artist Jean-Pascal Fournier (Edguy, Immortal, Avantasia, Impaled Nazarene).
Their compositions move into simple forms (though I feel that this album is a little more technical than the previous ones) and includes catchy tunes, melodic vocals and choruses. In this album we witness once again the usual thundering double bass drums while the guitars and keyboards are dueling. The album is good, but sadly, it's not something special. Nothing stands out and their sound is the same with plenty other bands.
The recipe is quite simple and probably overused. A little of Stratovarius, a little of Helloween and a bit of Riot spiced up with some Iron Maiden flavors and you get the picture. Not bad, just a good album that fans of this kind of metal will enjoy, but hardly remember after a few months.
The musicians technique is good. The guitar players play both melodic and fast solos with ease and the vocals dress the songs in great colorful tunes. But on the other hand all the cliches are present and there's nothing special in the arrangements. The production could use some improvement, but even as it is, it's not bad at all.  Cosmovision will satisfy the Nightmare fans, but sadly it won't bring them any new ones. One thing is for sure, the album worths giving it a try.