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The American Nightmare Revolution |
Like herpes during spring break in Cabo, American Nightmare has
spread like wildfire through the hardcore scene. The Nightmare revolution
was desperately needed by the increasingly boring youth crew hardcore
scene. Constantly repeating drums, boring guitars and never changing
vocals were making the bands as boring as a Bay Eagle sports article. Now,
with a huge following and growing number of copy cat bands, nothing can
make American Nightmare go
away, again, much like herpes.
Nightmare(as they are often called) has a style that draws
listeners in from all places. Unlike other old school hardcore bands like Ten
Yard Fight and Floorpunch,
AN seems to appeal to everyone. Metal kids and hardcore kids alike can
rock out to nightmare, and it makes for incredible shows.
In 2000, Nightmare released their self-titled demo, which attracted
a large amount of attention and caught the eye of Bridge
Nine Records. In the next year, Bridge Nine, an all straight edge
record label, recorded a self-titled seven song EP. This release put AN on
the map, with some of their best songs to date like “please die,” and
“sore throat syndrome,” and my personal favorite “farewell.” B9
released the incredible EP “The Sin isn’t Getting any Brighter”
later that same year. This was a five song release with a cover and an
incredible secret song. Finally, in 2001, after leaving B9 and joining EVR,
Nightmare released their most incredible work to date, “Background
Music.” Their first full-length, this eleven song album brought them to
where they are today.
One way that AN is different from many bands in the same scene is
the vocals. Vocalist Wes is incredible, with an original sounding voice. American
Nightmare lyrics are a far cry from that of other old school bands. While
most Youth Crew bands are constantly belting out finger pointing sing
alongs about “staying true” and similar positive issues, AN’s lyrics
are dark, amazingly poetic and very personal. There are already tons of
bands with copycat lyrics. As if the scream and lyrics didn’t make Wes
great enough, he only has one hand. Now sure, some might not think of that
as a positive attribute, but it has it’s upsides when you think about
it. The first time I saw Nightmare, I was mostly interested in seeing his
hand, or lack thereof. Also, consider the time saved washing hand(s), and
the fact that one pair of gloves will last you twice as long.
Aside from the lyrics and vocals, Nightmare’s music is different
and creative as well. While still keeping the heavy mosh parts and sing alongs old
school style, AN’s music is emotional and very different from most other
bands. Recruiting the incredible drummer formerly of Death By stereo and Adamantium
for the recording of their latest full length, AN’s latest beats are as
great as anything else.
I strongly recommend that you at least give American Nightmare a chance. I accept the fact that most people will not like them, and that is fine, you can listen to whatever you want, except for Creed. If you listen to Creed, I will find you and hurt you.