DARK - Nightmare

DARK, a singer/songwriter from Hamburg, strikes hard with the debut album Nightmare. 8 songs that mercilessly drag you along the darkest paths of dark music.

DARK found a home at Young & Cold records. In June 2020 the first single Forever Suffer was released. An enormous bombshell. And it didn't stop there. Nightmare and Nyctophilia followed. Followers worldwide watched the clips en masse, DARK was included in tens of thousands of streaming lists.

I myself discovered this masterful project in the autumn of 2020. The first tune I heard by DARK wonderfully fitted the grey and dreary Belgian autumn day, even more desolate because there was nowhere to go during the pandemic.

And that first tune was Nightmare. A masterly song. In my 47 years of existence, I have discovered a lot of great music in as many genres as there are bands because we don't care about pigeonholing. But this? A tsunami of enthusiasm, love at first sight! Rarely I have been so overwhelmed by this musical explosion.

When I discovered the other songs, my breath stopped several times. The songs grab you by the throat without looking back. Goosebumps. This is such an overwhelming debut that I suspect it will be hard to top. And actually, it doesn't have to be - this is absolutely sublime class.

Forever Suffer belongs at every party. Great darkwave with lyrics that don't need more than a few words: "Passion, Pain, I suffer, Again. Forever Suffer". The building blocks? Corky drumbeats, a bassline with the necessary shine, and synths that cycle rhythmically as well as humming. Perfect! Totally perfect!

And then my absolute favorite, Nyctophilia. Actually, all eight songs are my favorites, this one perhaps even more so. You don't change a successful recipe. The ingredients are the same as the previous song but are backed up by dark guitars. They subtly wriggle their way into this anthem.

What certainly cannot be said of DARK is that it would be one-size-fits-all. That's what the Hamburg songwriter is careful of. In the Dark You Die could almost be called minimal. Vocally DARK goes down a few registers, in an almost spoken word mode. It's certainly danceable. It has everything: nice rhythm, intoxicating melody, mystery on every level.

The next magnum opus: Gothic Love. Do not expect an unctuous ballad. No, don't! DARK's voice sounds even more tormented. Musically it hovers between darkwave, minimal, and some future-pop-like passages in which the synths get an absolute leading role. Lack of cheerfulness, that's clear from this phrase: "In silent dismay - I stare at your grave - we'll be together - forever and ever".

We said it already: variety is trumps. A song between post-punk and darkwave. You can hear a hint of She Past Away in it but it might as well remind you of Clan Of Xymox. Does it matter? Not at all. A quieter song that babbles on. And shines. A diamond of very exceptional quality. With heavenly voices on top.

In The Shadows is another gem. Please give me a dancefloor bathed in mist, lock me in and put this on repeat. For hours. This never gets boring. Cut from different musical cloth again. No song sounds the same and that makes this album, which for me is the debut of the year anyway, even more interesting.

The last song is a heavy gothic song. Avoid Everyone is a sledgehammer blow... and the dance goes on.

If there is one debut album that I would call a classic, this is it. The album Nightmare excels on all levels: atmosphere, diversity in the songs, both musically and vocally. DARK announced that in 2022 they will take the stage to present us all these songs live. So organizers, wherever you are: make it happen!