Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is always something that keeps even the sturdiest and happy go lucky minds awake during the hours of darkness, whether it the constant thought of repression, misplaced anger, guilt or unremitting sorrow, nightmares find a way into the deepest recesses and have an annoying habit of making you pay whilst you sleep as you do when you are awake.

What keeps them at bay can be just the knowledge that somewhere somebody truly loves you for whatever you and whatever you have done, tenderness and darkness so compatible, so alluring and cautious that it can only be described as Love Songs and Other Nightmares.

With the excellent mix of the Germanic thunder and the Latin appeal of beauty that makes Spain such a rich vibrant source of classical rendition, Kilmara bring together a collection of songs that pound and tear at the mind whilst soothing the heart at the same time. The connection between the two is unmistakable; it is significant and bright, like carrying a torch made out of particles of the sun through the dark enclosed parts of your mind, the hunger for resolution in even the most grimmest of fairy tales.

Kilmara might not be a name recognisable to many in the U.K.’s Metal fan club but like many acts over the last couple of years, from the likes of France, Spain, Poland and the Scandinavian area, they have proved that the excitement of finding decent quality Metal on the European continent is much more entertaining than many acts you would find in the more natural homes of the United States of America and the U.K. Not that there is a dearth of bands waiting in the wings from those parts but it just seems whilst the old guard continue to be masters of all they survey on both sides of the Atlantic, the young, lean and hungry bands will forever be waiting on the wings like a bride continually being left at the altar.

Love Songs and Other Nightmares contains songs in which to rejoice in finding existence. Christian Wolfgang Kohl’s vocals stretch the ears capacity as if listening to a nuclear explosion through every conceivable device in the plushest cinema and work brilliantly with the music laid down by Jonathan Portilo, Javi Morillo, Raúl Ruiz and Kike Torres. Tracks such as Devil’s Eye, the utterly brilliant Insomnia, The Break Up and Cold Rain all dance on the musical taste buds goading you into taking a good hard swallow, to bite straight into the offering placed before you and enjoy repeatedly the sophisticated contribution to world Metal.

Love Songs and Other Nightmares is an album that will have come out of nowhere for many but nonetheless one that should be allowed to breathe with wild expectation

Ian D. Hall