A five song EP by up-and-coming Chilean metal band, Nightmare Tales.

For a tale of hard work paying off and seeing your dreams coming to fruition rather than becoming a nightmare, look no further than Chile’s Nightmare Tales.

They began their journey all the way back in September 2023. Recording and releasing this 5 song EP in January of 2024, they’ve come surprisingly far in such a short amount of time.

Since the band is so new there isn’t much available information online about them so I reached out to learn a little more and here’s what they had to say

“A big part of this band is to show the whole world our myths and legends. Chile has a lot of super interesting stories from top to bottom. So we are showing our most scary and dark myths and legends to create the songs. Our EP was a way to try to fit this new scene and try to realize if we where good enough. Fortunately, it has been very good for us, there are very good comments and a Brazilian record company got interested to release an LP. We are currently working on that, I hope that will see the light of day starting the second semester. We have like 5 or 6 songs ready.”

So if you’re interested in Chilean myths and legends and love some traditional heavy metal, this is the band for you. But if you’re not interested in Chilean myths and legends but just love heavy metal, is this still the band for you? Read the review then go check them out to see for yourself!

Review

I’ve seen several bands lately from Chile but I’m not very familiar with the Chilean metal scene. I can only think of one other band from Chile that I’ve listened to , until Nightmare Tales Occult Reunion showed up. If all the other bands are anything like these guys, I may have to give more Chilean bands a decent shot

Howling wind blowing through the trees…gentle acoustic guitar being picked… am I talking about the newest country folk wannabe? Nope! Occult Reunion opens with Whispers of Illusion, a soft starting rocker that kicks the album off in fantastic fashion. The riff will stay in your head for days and the lead guitar work is top notch. The vocals aren’t really my taste but after numerous listens I’ve grown to somewhat like them, even if I can’t understand a word he’s singing.

Guardian of Shadows starts of more straightforward and steady with a simple riff and drumbeat. Slower, maybe more doom-y sounding with a chant like chorus. It has a nice break in the middle with some nice guitar work. Probably my least favorite of the EP.

The lead single, Echoes of Sorrow, is a drastic turnaround from Shadows. I’m still not really liking the vocals, mainly because I can’t understand what he’s saying, but I can feel it, and I like what I feel. This was a good lead single as I think it pretty much would sum up the EP as a whole. I really enjoy this song. Just as the rest of the songs, the guitar work is great and the drumming on this one is as well.

A booming drum and sharp guitar lick start off Enchantress’s Lament before the vocals kick in. I consider this a bet of a let off after Sorrow but the guitar playing is still great. Along the lines of Shadows, a straightforward heavy metal song nothing special but definitely not bad by any means.

Rounding up this short EP we have The Phantoms Call. A simple driving riff with some guitar playing in the background that I think fits great with a nice solo coming in. As the song ends we’re met with more wind blowing, bringing us back to where we began.

Conclusion

I guess my biggest complaint with this EP would be the vocals. I just couldn’t understand what he was saying. Musically there were fantastic moments, and there were also dull boring moments. Overall I liked what I heard and will be interested in what this band does next.

I couldn’t help but think of the great Pagan Alter while listening to Occult Reunion. Am I comparing Nightmare tales to Pagan Alter? Absolutely not, they are incomparable, but that’s what was brought to mind. Maybe the vocals are similar? I can understand Pagan Alter though.

Was this EP great? No. Is it going to light the metal world on fire and hold us all in anticipation waiting for the full length to be released? No it’s not. What did it do then? It introduced the world to Nightmare Tales, and a fine introduction it was. In my humble opinion I believe this band has it in them to make a great album. Take care of a few problems and get rid of the dullness. It may take them an album or 2 but I think they can do it

THENWOTHM Score: 7/10