NIGHTMARE is the case of the band having limited success in the mid-80s, breaking up in the late 80s, reforming ten years later and enjoying a second - and more productive - youth in the 21st century. Their genesis took place in 1979 in France and became something of a 'name' after opening for British Metal legends SAXON in their Grenoble gig in 1983.
Two classic - for die-hard 'classic' metallers - albums did come out; 1984 Waiting For The Twilight scored grand numbers in Japan and Greece(!) while Power Of The Universe did carry on the European 'simply' Metal aim of NIGHTMARE. 1987 saw the French warriors disbanding, while 1999 was the time they got again together. Now Joe Amore grabs the mic and his brother sits behind the drums. The Astral Deliverance EP preceded the outfit's return, while Cosmovision (2001) was issued in favor of some (now) Power Metal (yet, not the 'happy' one) being performed. Furthermore, 2003's Silent Room conceptual album (divided in 5 chapters) pushed forth NIGHTMARE's inspiration, and 2005's The Dominion Gate (the first one with Regain Records) just added spark to the NIGHTMARE flame. Gigs with BLIND GUARDIAN, JUDAS PRIEST, GRAVE DIGGER, DARK MOOR, AFTER FOREVER etc offered extra detection and none would defy for a new NIGHTMARE album in 2007.
Genetic Disorder was recorded at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden with producers Fredrik Nordstrom and Henrik Udd (IN FLAMES, HAMMERFALL, DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY). From this and only one will assume things have gone a little bit havier and more solid. And that's a fact. Bearing (also) in mind NIGHTMARE will embark on tour with FREEDOM CALL, HYDROGEN and KRAGENS it's obvious the band tries to tie things up with today's (Euro) Metal things. Something, don't deny, they always did after their 1999 revival. You know, many bands of 'that' era do 100% alter their sound while others (limited, though) do not tend to 'fly away' from their trademark sound. NIGHTMARE seem to run after evolution/development and - since the so 'called' Euro Power Metal sub-genre seems to be the '90s/00s sequel' of classic Heavy Metal (the European way) - they act as wise as possible(?).
The production is not that remarkable for a band like NIGHTMARE. Mediocre and 'modern wanna be' at times, it does not raise the potential of the songs. These songs, to extend, are really inspiration-crafted, some of them being fast takers (e.g. Battleground For Suicide and The Winds Of Sin) while others are more 'European' (look out for Queen Of Love & Pain) plus there exist enough 'mid-tempo' Power Metal tunes (Nothing Left Behind and the HAMMERFALL-ish Leader Of The Masquerade). The Dominion Gate (Part II) is a separate case; epic, melodramatic and 'traveling'. A really charming track!
Joe's vocals are again impressive; I wonder why the hell this man did not sing from the very beginning. His tension to sing more aggressively (e.g. in Conspiracy) at times can only be justified due to the will for something new; else, I do not see NIGHTMARE needing such stuff.
The guitars' work, in addition, is rather remarkable. Non-stop riffs with blistering 'metallic' solos but (bad enough?) lots of lead add-ons in some songs, resulting in a kinda fuzzy sound with on 'air' (ARCH ENEMY does this better, by all means). This fits to the production stuff mentioned previously. As for the rhythm section, the Campion/Amore duo breathes fire and plays a huge role in the liveliness of NIGHTMARE. David Amore goes 'prog' in specific drum parts and succeeds in raising the technical amplitude of the album without exaggerating at all.
I love NIGHTMARE performing neat Metal music after 25 years of (discographic) existence. If the sound was more attractive we'd be talking 'bout a must-have for Metal fans. Nonetheless, devotees of bands like (00's) GRAVE DIGGER, AVALON, DREAM EVIL and even (guitars-wise) ARCH ENEMY, Genetic Disorder is an album worth buying. It's not that weird (eventually) for NIGHTMARE being in the 'intense' Regain Records roster.