Nachtmahr – Verboten! (Digital/CD Album -Trisol)

Thomas Rainer returns with a new album from his most controversial project, Nachtmahr. The title of this work is undoubtedly meant to be provocative, yet Rainer continues to excel at what he’s been doing since his 2008 debut: challenging his audience with bold imagery and lyrics. While the music itself feels less overtly provocative, it remains undeniably strong. Sticking to the classic Nachtmahr formula, Rainer crafts solid dance tracks that strike a balance between Dark-Electro and EBM, enhanced by a catch-infused edge in the choruses. Once again, he rallies his fans to the dancefloor. Interestingly, the standout tracks for me are the instrumental ones, where his voice takes a backseat to feature spoken samplings instead. And no, there’s nothing wrong with his vocals -these tracks simply resonate the most with me. Nachtmahr doesn’t reinvent itself here, but instead delivers a consistent and reliable offering of quality music. (Rating:8).
Listen to “Blut”: Read the news on ‘Verboten!’.
About Nachtmahr
Nachtmahr is an Austrian industrial and electronic music project founded by Thomas Rainer in 2007. Known for its aggressive, militaristic sound and provocative imagery, Nachtmahr combines hard-hitting beats with distorted vocals and harsh electronic instrumentation. Rainer, who is also the frontman of L’Âme Immortelle, created Nachtmahr as an outlet for his harsher musical ideas.
Nachtmahr’s debut EP “Kunst ist Krieg”, released in 2007, introduced the project’s signature sound. The project gained wider attention with the album “Feuer Frei” in 2008, followed by “Alle Lust Will Ewigkeit” in 2009 and “Semper Fidelis” in 2010, each combining industrial noise with EBM and exploring themes of control, power and dominance through militaristic aesthetics.
“Verboten!”, released on November 1, 2024 through Trisol Music Group, is the project’s newest album and was supported by a nine-date German tour in November 2024.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

