THE NIGHTMARE STAGE – When The Curtain Closes

The Nightmare Stage’s second album When The Curtain Closes is an unexpectedly solid Progressive Power Metal release from the relatively new American outfit. The sound is what you would expect given the theme of the band. Church organs and exotic orchestral sections underlie the standard metal guitar onslaught. The highlight of When The Curtain Closes is Scott Oliva’s face-melting vocal performance. The power of his voice is seemingly limitless. “Dark Skies” in particular, features several gritty, brain-exploding high notes. It’s nice to hear someone in today’s scene that finds the perfect middle ground between rasp and clean power.

Where the album falters is in the production department. Some of the guitar tones sound very artificial and stiff. Overall the album has a sort of “grunting” sound to it instead of the polished crispness that most modern Power Metal albums achieve.

Still, even with a somewhat early 2000s sounding production vibe, the songs and performances within are able to overcome any technical shortcomings. When The Curtain Closes will be an excellent listen for fans of Prog Metal, Power Metal, Thrash, and the like.

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