This is our second Type O Negative-related post of the week and while the other one was the more obvious sound alike being a cover and all (Split Chain’s take on “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” which you can read about here), it’s the unassuming, less obvious debut full-length from Neon Nightmare which is giving us legit chills from the very obvious vibes they give off from both the aural and visual presentation of their music.
In the last TON piece we did we again stated how it is nearly impossible to pull off replicating the sound of the Drab Four and in the great words of Jud Crandall: “Sometimes Dead Is Better”. That said, if you’re going to come out of the gate swinging with this sound then we might have to seriously reconsider that stance. Because this is FANTASTIC! A 7-track record that’s in and out before you know it but still manages to leave a definitive lasting impression that’s not so much Type O Negative lite as it is… something else.
If you like SPOILERS then it’s recently been revealed to be Spirit Adrift’s Nate Garrett behind the Neon Nightmare mask, and while that may cause some to react one way or another, we could give a hoot because as far as we’re concerned the spirit of the Green Man is alive and unwell once again.
We heard “She’s Drowning” first and thought it was a nice homage and something that actually embodies the TON sound for once but then you get into the rest of the album and Holy SHIT! It’s not their next record by any means but if you visited the band in that in between stage after the success of Bloody Kisses and just before October Rust was released you’d have a good idea of what Faded Dream sounds like. Or think of it as a lost album that the studio perfectionists scrapped while trying to figure out what was next following BK.
“Lost Silver” is like an inverted “Love You To Death” to start and while no one could ever touch Peter Steele’s booming baritone voice, Garrett does a great job here and the inhale right before the vocals starts gave us an out of body experience. “It’s All Over (For You)” flows out of the thematic elements of “Lost Silver” and is just gorgeous with glistening Gothic guitar tones and that slow crushing Groove that Johnny Kelly still lays down so well complete with TON signature fret scrubs and Garrett’s rolled R’s and higher range eerily emulating the departed big man.
There gets to a point in Faded Dream where you’ve gotta say “I get it, you like Type O Negative!” and just move on and just appreciate Neon Nightmare for making the kind of original music that they do so if we were going pick one to encapsulate a “Neon Nightmare sound” it’d probably be “LATW2TG” (Or “Laughing All The Way To The Grave”). At almost eight minutes the track is a haunting beauty with eerie piano lines and a chorus that’s a veritable earworm followed by “They Look Like Shadows” which is a full scale Heavy Rawk out with slamming sticks and chunky riffage accompanied by a spooky video (Watch it here) to match the spooky vibes.
The aforementioned “She’s Drowning” could’ve made it on any Bloody Kisses and beyond release as it floats through the ethereal realm on a cloud of gloom with NN’s own signature bass sound driving the track surrounded by some holy sounding synths to add to the atmosphere. On the other hand, “Promethean Gift”, is exquisitely epic and a fitting closer with a gargantuan track encapsulating all that’s come before into one wonderful sonic world that on its’ own would make this Faded Dream trip worth the price of admission.
Faded Dream is out now through 20 Buck Spin and you can secure your copy right now by heading here or here. For more from Neon Nightmare, follow the band on their socials when you head here, here, or here.