The seemingly endless depths of folklore over thousands of years of human history has long influenced music and all of what it can be from fantastic Biblical tales to simple chants to ward off some goblin of the night so you can just keep your food. Fittingly, it has been a key piece in many corners of the metal underground across the world with there being all sorts of takes on what feels like every sort of legend that has weaved its way through the villages and captured the fears and imaginations of those it comes into contact with. For its debut album, Nachtmaer tackles a creature that many of us are familiar with in some form or another, be it the modern iteration or its ancient perception, with the four tracks brought forth here wondrously fitting for the beast.

Four tracks may seem like not much to go off of when tackling any sort of mythical creature be it big or small, but it’s the very perception of the mære in all of its different forms across all sorts of cultures that we’re able to get a lot more than we might have initially bargained for. Over the years, the beast has taken names like night hags, Slavic fairies, the Hindu goddess Mara, or simply nightmares with it thought to be an ancient interpretation of what’s medically known as sleep paralysis, and it’s in that time that it has taken many forms of all kinds. In the four tracks of “Van de Mare Bereen”, Nachtmaer does a more than splendid job both at making this a worthwhile debut and an extravagant take on the mythical beast. Armed with a different vocalist for each track and a tremendous understanding of the patient yet undeniably deadly breed of black metal that is insanely focused on what it seeks to bring to the table with it being made clear out of the gate that Nachtmaer is more than capable of delivering the goods in surprisingly quality. The very atmospheres and lore of the various legends play a massive role in this performance as “Van de Mare Bereen” does an outright tremendous job at bringing the tales of the mære to a modern art form in such a capacity that is compelling in many different ways with the future looking incredibly bright for the likes of Nachtmaer given what’s been brought forth here.

It would be easy to leave a creature like this restricted to just one song on an album dedicated to folklore given all there is to work with out there, but that would be to downplay the significance and staying power of the mære over its reign of terror for thousands of years with Nachtmaer’s take on its terror magnificent, to say the least. “Van de Mare Bereen” is but the start of what we’re to expect from the likes of Nachtmaer with the very whole of the world’s lore of folk tales, legends, and beasts their’s to become lost within as we follow closely behind to see what sights are yet to be rediscovered.

“Van de Mare Bereen” releases on January 13th!

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Nachtmaer currently does not have any singles or advanced tracks available that I could find at the time of writing this review. So, please, follow Nachtmaer on Bandcamp here to be notified when material is released, or follow the band on Facebook to stay up-to-date on the activities of Nachtmaer.