Introducing: Nightmare Constellation

“You want to have fun? This ain’t gonna happen.” That’s a promise from Austrian deathcore meets progressive metal collective Nightmare Constellation, who’ve concocted a brutal, dark and ominous sound that they describe as “ruminative, gloomy and unusual.”

The Innsbruck/Vienna band has been through a long process of testing out different genres as they aimed to fine-tune their uniquely vicious sound. Vocalist Tom Stover initially joined as the drummer alongside former vocalist Frajo, guitarist Patrick Schatz and bassist Dominik Schatz, and tells us: “When I joined, the band didn’t even have a name or specific direction. We just kept jamming occasionally trying to find what fitted best for us. Over time, I found some interest in learning heavy vocals as I watched Frajo experimenting with different techniques.”

That came in useful as Frajo left the band due to health issues and plans to move abroad just before an important gig. So Tom stepped up to fill in on vocals while using a drum computer and the gig feedback was so good that they went ahead with their debut album Palingenesis without a full-time drummer. They soon filled that gap with Clemens Recheis, only for the pandemic to disrupt their plans and put two follow-up singles until last year.

On the sound they’ve honed, Tom tells us: “Imagine yourself at the lowest point of your life: beaten, broken, maybe even depressed, unable to not assume the worst. Now give that version of yourself an angry voice, screaming out everything you wanted to say but couldn’t. Pair this with moody, low-tuned guitars, complex song structures, sophisticated drumming and some nasty bass riffs.

“You want to have fun? This ain’t gonna happen. Instead, you get melancholy on steroids, ready to steamroller everything in its way. You can think of it as if the strong energy that traps depressed people into avolition gets released in a very aggressive and brutal way. 

“It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but if you can vibe with that you might find yourself acting out some difficult feelings in a very relieving way. Nightmare Constellation unifies characteristics of Deathcore, Progressive Metal and even Sludge or Doom Metal but still is different.”

Our latest taste of this is their most recent single Meltdown, which opens up with a building stabbing sound that explodes into vicious vocals over pulsing guitars and savage drums. Crushing guitars take over under intense vocals then wildly heavy guitars and drums with soaring siren sounds jumping in.

It drops into a rumbling bassline then creepy whispery vocals over an eerie synth sound before heavy guitars, drums and a distant synth support more wild vocals. The pace drops again with spoken vocals, which intensify towards a brutal conclusion.

On the track, Clemens told us: “So far we received very positive feedback on the song. I think people who are familiar with our past releases are quite surprised in a positive way by that song. We were able to finally show our full potential in songwriting. It got more progressive, there are more layers and sounds than in our previous songs. So I would say it got way more interesting to listen to.

“Anyone who didn’t listen to it yet can expect a song with lots of different elements. It goes from very dense and heavy to more open parts which really let the song breathe. Listeners probably won’t get bored while listening through this song.” Check out Meltdown here:

That follows their previous single Harbinger, which opens up with a lingering guitar and cool building drums that drop into a cool riff over rolling drums and cymbals. An ominous synth comes in to build the darkness then the pace picks up as Tom’s heavy vocals take over. It goes all kinds of dark as huge doomy drums support vicious vocals and piercing guitars and synth sounds.

There’s a brief pause for breath as a chunky bassline bridges into huge guttural vocals answered by wild retorts. It goes super heavy again, before an intense outro. Check it out in the video here:

There’s much more where that came from with plenty of filthy riffs, moody atmospheres and brutal vocals on their debut album, including the intense Breath, Misery, Deathclock and Bloom and Decay, which is particularly crushing.

The Nightmare Constellation sound takes influence from bands like Meshuggah, Black Tongue, Gojira, Humanity’s Last Breath. While on his own personal influences, Tom lists the likes of Job for a Cowboy, KoRn, The Black Dahlia Murder, Necrophagist, less popular metal bands like Lo!, Ufomammut, Black Crown Initiate, Cult of Luna, Sunnata and non-metal artists like Lorn, Sadistik, Fever Ray and Eyedea.

And Tom adds: “I am also a huge Fan of Ben Duerr’s way of being a vocalist in general. He is super talented but also seems to be a nice and chill dude, not overly self-staging or anything like that. I like that he seems to be so normal and human and isn’t making headlines with shady behavior like many big vocalists do these days.”

And on what inspires him to write music, Tom tells us: “For me, making music is a very special way of expressing emotions and metal and hardcore punk in particular with all its sub-genres is a very intense and authentic way to do that.

“Our key themes and topics tend to be emotional crisis and social criticism. This is hugely shaped by my own very personal experiences but also from what I hear from people I work with in their psychiatric rehabilitation. It somehow has become my personal ambition to point out how normal and reasonable it is to suffer from mental disorders in our present society, while at the same time, these people are highly stigmatized and the whole topic is flooded with misinformation.

“The lyrics I write are mostly an exaggerated illustration of what might happen when people don’t care for each other while burning themselves for some idealistic and principled views at the same time.”

It’s safe to say we’ve not covered too many Austrian bands yet on the site, so we asked the band for their thoughts on their local scene. Clemens said: “From my perspective, the metal scene in Austria is not the strongest in comparison to other countries. It can be quite challenging to reach new listeners. Once people listen and hopefully like your music though, they are very loyal. Whenever we are playing a show in our hometown we already know basically who is coming. People are attending our concerts even if they have seen us a few times already. We are really grateful to have such loyal local fans and supporters.”

Nightmare Constellation will be focusing on songwriting through 2023, and have a new track that they hope to release somewhere between March and May. They’re also hoping to connect with more bands both in Innsbruck and internationally, so if you like what you hear from the band, get in touch.

And Tom adds: “We are really putting a lot of effort and thoughts into our songs to make them different from any music we know. And as I said before, the result might not be for everyone, but it is highly authentic and perceptible. More than reaching as many people as possible we strive to reach the right people, those who can express themselves through our music. We want people to know that they are not alone when undergoing difficult chapters in their lives. If you like what we do, share it, tell your grandma, write us a message, do whatever feels right to you. Bear up! Salut! Stay healthy! Until next time!”

You can follow Nightmare Constellation on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.