Review: The Nightmares - Fire In Heaven

Review: The Nightmares – Fire In Heaven

"Although they comfortably wear their influences, The Nightmares continue to show encouraging signs with their second album"

Ever since emerging out of Newport, The Nightmares have somewhat been lumbered with being compared to previous touring pals Creeper. Sure, both have a bleak aesthetic to their presentation and are rooted in gothic punk. However, ‘Fire In Heaven’ allows The Nightmares to step out of whatever bleak shadow they’ve been put in. Where 2023’s ‘Séance’ leaned into murky stylings, this second full-length feels broader, and even brighter in places.

For starters, keyboardist Eleanor Coburn has stepped up her vocal contributions to take equal billing with Adam Parslow. It provides the 11 songs on offer a compelling dynamic. It’s paired with a thematic approach that explores the curiosity of morality and the wider universe while maintaining the familiar theme of lost love. Admittedly, tracks like ‘Something in the Dark’ do little to evolve from the brooding synth-punk, yet with its eerie keys and bubbling bass, it still has a tendency to draw you in.

In contrast, the jangly ‘Dead Roses’ exemplifies The Nightmares‘ pop-sensibilities, pairing it with a twinkling shoegaze aura. Likewise, Coburn’s bouncing keys lead into the early album highlight, ‘Letting It All Go’. Along with its playful melodies, Coburn’s harmonious vocals complement Parslow’s urgency. Its momentum is carried forward on to ‘Hell is Gonna Happen’. Despite its gloomy lyrics of “you tore my heart in two, one piece for me, one piece for you,” it prospers in a plucky New Order-esque skin.

Throughout there is an appreciative shininess to what Parslow, Coburn, along with drummer James Mattock, bassist Benjamin Mainwaring, and incoming guitarist Craig Preece, serve up. For the most part, they rely on a bleak 80’s new wave tone, equipped with favourable melodies that you keep coming back to. The considerable exception is ‘Blood on Your Hands’. On Coburn’s voice glides above reverberating, hypnotic guitars. ‘Run Away’ briskly jumps back into jangly pop-rock yet is one of the more skippable tracks here. The other is ‘Beneath Your Name’ which comfortably dwells in goth-tinged rock, albeit ineffectively.

As you reach the later stages of ‘Fire In Heaven’, it’s clear The Nightmares don’t shield their influences away. For example, The Cure’s influence rears its head on ‘Heaven Won’t Hold Me’. Dominated by Coburn’s mournful keys, Parslow’s melancholy words are punctuated with a sense of sorrow and a hint of optimism. Then Mattock and Mainwaring momentarily team up for a plucky Motown-like bridge. It’s followed by ‘Melancholy Waltz’s cathartic acoustics and reflective words that succinctly sink in with sweeping keys and gorgeous guitars, hypnotically fading into the night.

Through a vast sense of perspective, the growing capabilities of its members (including the addition of Preece), and comfortably wearing their influences, The Nightmares continue to show encouraging signs. Rather than being mere (apparent) imitators of their peers and influences, ‘Fire In Heaven’ hints at a band who have the potential to stand out on their own.

‘Fire In Heaven’ by The Nightmares is released on February 14th, 2025 on Venn Records.