THE NIGHTMARE BECOMES REALITY

My first taste of Sweden's own ANIMA MORTE began with the next record "Upon Darkened Stains" from 2014 and my expectations were a little too high I suppose giving it 3.5 stars but being a little put off by the modern sound mostly from the synths. I was really hoping for a GOBLIN-like all analog sound and that modern vibe bugged me. "The Nightmare Becomes Reality" from 2011 is similar to the followup but more to my liking for sure. Lots of mellotron, great drumming and bass while the guitar style changes throughout.

This band is a four piece and influenced by the usual suspects like GOBLIN, Enio Morricone and surprisingly SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA a band that is bright and positive not dark and horror influenced. I am not in any way shape or form a fan of Horror movies but I do like that dark sound like that MORTE MACABRE record for example. "Voices From Beyond" a short 30 second intro of voices ending with a scream gets us started.

The first track that really stood out for me was "Passage Of Darkness" and partly because it's piano led instead of synth led. The drumming and bass are so good here and check out the mellotron. "Feast Of Feralia" is another standout piece again the piano leads but some prominent guitar too. And again the drumming really makes everything better. I'm not a big fan of the title track with those synths. "Things To Come" the longest piece at 8 minutes rounds out my top three with again piano and mellotron making me happy but some ripping guitar on here too.

There's enough here to give that fourth star, I did like it right from the first spin despite having some issues with it. I forgot to mention that Mattias Olsson guests on drums and bowed guitar and he co-produced it.