Much has been made of the French metallers in the last few years, despite a more than two decades’ pedigree (‘84 "Waiting For The Twilight" debut). Since a 15 year hiatus, the band has maintained an every-other-year release schedule throughout this millennium.

Previous releases that graced these ears, as well as a live appearance at one of the ill-received NJ Metal Meltdown cluster-fucks failed to prove Nightmare were capable of such a well constructed effort, including a thrashy, riff-tastic ‘The Gospel Of Judas’, which ends with a cappella falsetto sustained vocal. The acoustic begun ‘Three Mile Island’ includes a Walter Cronkite news clip voiceover before heading headlong into a 8:43 riff fest. More than a little Priest creeps into the guitars of the title track. There’s a beefy bottom end on ‘Cosa Nostra (Part I- The Light)’, while a gritty ‘Eternal Winter’ kicks off the album with backward tape loops.