Nightmare Diaries is Scandinavian Gothic with a hard metal base, in the grand tradition of Scandinavian metal that we are all familiar with. The guitars have a bit of the Midnattsol sound to them and even the vocals have some of that tone, and I do love Midnattsol. But Ancestral Legacy has a somewhat harder bent to the sound, in addition to the pronounced death metal vocals. At least on most titles. There is the exception, however, as the female vocalist does provide us with a beautiful ballad on occasion, for instance, on the title Trapped Within The Wind. Interestingly enough, this same song is done in Spanish on a previous EP by the new vocalist. On this title, there is a bit of a South American vocal quality over the more traditional Scandinavian guitars, which throb in the background. The female vocal approach ranges from this softer side to the more traditional metal found in the next selection, Done, where they are contrasted against the harsh death metal sound that more effectively defines the overall direction of the CD.

I don’t know what it is about the Scandinavian metal scene that tends to darken the music. Maybe it’s the fact that they only see the sun often enough to get one sunburn a year but the impact seems to run through the genre. I’m not saying there are no individual characteristics from one band to another, but there is the singular trait to produce a darker kind of music, no matter which AL vocalist is doing the singing. And Nightmare Diaries pretty much follows this pattern; the guitars pound, the drums throb and the B & B vocals provide a Yin and Yang approach in the delivery of the lyrics. Those lyrics may not be as ethereal as some, but they certainly don’t follow the "Yippee, ain’t love grand" lyrics that drive the Disney Boy Bands down the road to total irrelevance in the good ol’ US of A. Such blasphemy would be cause for a lynching in Northern Europe I suspect, at least I hope so. But the lyrics are performed by an interesting set of vocal styles. According to Risdal, finding the new female vocalist, Cortina, was an interesting catch with an interesting story behind it. But Omholt’s vocals work well here; and I suspect the new look works equally well in concert too, Cortina looks striking in black leather. According to Risdale, the female vocalists differ in that "Elin sound a bit more powerful and ‘sharp’, while Isa has a bit warmer tone to her." OK. I guess so.

The CD covers some 10 tunes, most following the traditional Scandinavian Gothic Metal format. And, there’s nothing wrong with that. You get the feeling this is music intended to be performed live. The pronounced guitars tend to drive most of the songs over the drums and you can pretty much see the band in your mind while listening to the music. The CD begins with Out of the Dark and Into the Night. The initial guitar is almost haunting but, as the drums kick in, the tempo goes north in a hurry. We are immediately introduced to the female vocals and they interact with the music nicely. . . .until Eddie joins the fray screaming,

Ok, guess this is going in a different direction. Clearly not lyrics written for Nightwish. The direction continues with Eddie growling:

This direction continues with Separate Worlds which continues the harsh male vocals meshed against the beautiful female vocals. The two don’t tend to work together as a duet but work more as a dialog, one vocal at a time. And, as in the preceding song, there are some interesting guitar moments that are used to segment the song.

The Ancestral Diaries song list tends to be pretty much hard metal, however, there is the occasional ballad, and Omholt does a lovely job with them. The afore mentioned Trapped Within the Wind is one of these. You still get the guitar format but this music is soft and melodic. I like the music the way it is, but, being from a Spanish speaking culture, I almost prefer the Spanish version from the previous EP. Either way, the song is an interesting side road from the more typical hard metal that is the standard route of this CD. Another instance of this melodic approach is Still where the almost Spanish guitar takes us on a vocal journey driven over a much more stylized metal base.

Omholt’s vocal style has the capability of reminding us of other vocalists in this genre. On the previously mentioned Done, we get a style that has to remind us of UnSun, the Polish Gothic band. And the guitars on this number also mimic that sound, not a minimal compliment as that is one of the finest releases of the past several years. But the AL sound returns to the base performance on most numbers. Songs like Tomorrow’s Chance and My Departed feature the thundering guitar driving the harsh vocals and the often times overlaid female vocals of Omholt. The music is hard and driven; bar room music, just what I want to hear at my favorite biker bars. But the lyrics go in another direction. In My Departed, the message takes a direction a little darker than what I typically hear in those two-wheeled haunts:

The Shadow of the Cross concludes the Nightmare Diaries. We get a little more of the symphonic here than in other selections. I wish there was a little more of it, it really works. And the message continues:

Yes sir, just another sunny day in Scandinavia. But, you really gotta love the music. Now, if we could only get that cover art done and get this thing in the stores. You can probably expect that to happen in February of 2010. The wait will be worth it.

9 / 10