Album Review: Indian Nightmare – By Ancient Force (High Roller Records)

Formed in 2014 by musicians from Indonesia, Italy, Turkey, and Mexico, Indian Nightmare made a difference within the wider metal scene right from the start. As self-proclaimed tribal metal punks, the quintet put up their tent in German capital Berlin and quickly established themselves with an original take on blackened thrash metal, both aesthetically and musically.

By making the members’ different cultural backgrounds almost palpable, their 2016 debut “Taking Back the Land” offered such a striking variation on the genre template that the youngsters were hailed as newcomers of the year by fans and media, a title that was fiercely defended at each succeeding gig the played.

Therefore, expectations are high for the follow-up, ‘By Ancient Force’ out on May 24th 2019 via High Roller Records.

Raw…raw as a fresh cut from the blade Indian Nightmare wield. Blending punk rhythm and pace with classic metal vocals and riffs, By Ancient Force is an unusual but unique sounding release.

The opener, Bastions of Nightmares moves at an exemplary pace while the vocals howl above everything. Incursions of Death first half is thrashy heaviness before everything drops away for a drum solo and the slight ring of feedback. The tempo begins to pick back up leading to a head-banging finale. Very Slayer like.

Serpent’s Eye gives us more old-school metal heaviness before Land of the Damned ups the groove with some top drawer riffs. All good stuff but the highlight comes next in the form of Yang Terampas Dan Terhisap. The rolling beat, the hyper-pace, the screeching guitars and powerful vocal performance…it’s the banger of the album.

Finally we have Set the Spirit Free, a straight-forward and unnecessarily lengthy metal head-banger and The Awakening, another long but more enjoyable stomp through the underbrush of metal.

Indian Nightmare – By Ancient Force Full Track Listing:

1. Bastions of Nightmares
2. Incursions of Death
3. Serpent’s Eye
4. Land of the Damned
5. Yang Terampas Dan Terhisap
6. Set the Spirit Free
7. The Awakening

The album and previous releases can be found over on Bandcamp. Find out more about Indian Nightmare over on Facebook.