Epic and contemplative. Majestic and brooding. Neon Nightmare's debut album is an eccentric, electrifying mixture of gothic metal, old-school doom, and some highly rocking riffage that draws from the well of 70's-era hard rock. Most of all, Neon Nightmare has garnered heavy comparisons to Type O Negative (especially the October Rust era of the band), and yeah, it's obvious. Neon Nightmare is pretty clear about its devotion to Peter Steele and Type O from the start. But while there's that unmistakable Type O Negative influence, Neon Nightmare does something interesting with it. It feels less sanguine, and certainly less tongue-in-cheek. And the doom metal influence is pretty pronounced. Early on, there's a moment or two where this sounds like Andrew Eldritch fronting something akin to Psalm 9-era Trouble or Mournful Cries-era Saint Vitus. Some hints of The Eternal Idol-era Black Sabbath, too. Morose-sounding baritone crooning over massive Iommi-ish riffs, the album's tempo shifting from driving metal chug and galloping riffing to anguished slow-motion sludge, billowing chorus-drenched guitar chords, and bits of battering-ram boogie. And the melodies...oh man, these songs soar when they aren't diving into the deep. Turns out this is all a solo effort from Nate Garrett, handling all instrumentation; a former member of Phoenix death metallers Gatecreeper and the main guy behind doom metal powerhouse Spirit Adrift, Garrett flamboyantly expresses his adoration for Type O, classic gothic metal, and old-school doom across this almost hour-long album (for the CD; the vinyl is a little shorter). It's impressively, imaginatively crafted.

The sound of a buzzing phone or pager is a slightly unsettling intro to the album, even more so when a wave of muffled voices and swirling noise sweep in across the ambient opener "Higher Calling". But that gothic metal hits like an asteroid with "Lost Silver", a sublime fusion of baritone singing and crunching metallic guitars; those vocals explode into soulful roars that contrast beautifully with that deeper delivery. And riffs by the truckload. Killer, doom-laden riffs, rocking mid-tempo crunch, ascendant guitar harmonies, lots of 80s-era Sabbath-style molten crush (the song "Laughing All The Way 2 The Grave" is a standout in this department, with huge saturated slo-mo crush alternating with Kyuss-esque swing). And the huge doses of hooky goth-pop melody, too. Faded Dream brings this all together in grand fashion, immense and dark and dreamlike. The keyboards on that first song and other hammers like ”They Look Like Shadows" and "It's All Over (For You)" serve up high-grade synth-bliss, draping these cerements of cinematic sound and rich, layered electronic textures over even the heaviest and most ground-pounding moments. I also hear a sort of "shoegazey" (or perhaps darkwave) quality soaking in, maudlin but super catchy gloompop hooks woven in amongst the gothic doom, volcanic grooves, gentle acoustic guitar breaks, and surreal, psychedelic soundscapes. Closer "Promethean Gift" exemplifies this with its ten minute eruption of blissed-out downer metal, boasting some of the most bulldozing riffs alongside some of the most opulent electronic accompaniment and world-weary singing on the album. Catchy as fuck.

If you pick up the CD version, you also get a "hidden” song at the very end. Crushing classic doom with yet another gargantuan set of riffs. Played out as one of the heaviest "love songs" I've ever heard.

Oh, and I don't know how they figure in here, but the liner notes mention that the "The Bensonhoist Lesbian Choir" appears here for the first time since Type O Negative's 2007 album Dead Again. An amorphous assembly of Peter Steele friends, that was the typically absurd name for the folks who helped with backing vocals on Type O albums; it's an obvious callback to the Type O Negative legacy, at the very least.

But in the end, at least to me, looking at the bands that Neon Nightmare gets compared to, Type O Negative as well as Paradise Lost, Sabbath, Alice In Chains and early 1990's "alternative metal", it doesn't quite nail what this really sounds like. I mean, if you're a fan of all of that stuff, and in particular Type O, Neon Nightmare mnight just be your new favorite band. But the way that the music flows from this disc, it's feels to me like something more than just a love-letter. This has soul of its own. Certainly something that quickly embedded itself in my heart.

Yeah, for me, this is one of the best debuts of 2024. This album hit me like a bolt outta the fuckin' blue. Love the album art from David Seidman, too.