With most colors of the Nothing But A Nightmare 7” pre-order gone in minutes, Southern California’s Soul Search leave no doubt about their popularity. After the huge success of their first EP Bury the Blame, it’s no big surprise the 5-track record is highly anticipated. Question is if this record can live up to the expectations.

The opener is ‘Never See’ which starts with the sound of howling wind. It definitely sets the mood for when the first riff kicks in. The riffs are low and repeating. Sadly the howling wind is the biggest part of the song and ‘Never See’ is over before you know it.

Next up is ‘The Scapegoat’, this song has an interesting intro. Chaotic and fast, not something you would expect. Sadly enough the song turns into repeating riffs again after the intro. This is their style, but the riffs on this album are very similar in every song.

If you don’t pay much attention when listening, all the tracks on this EP could as well be one song. Third song ‘Slow Burn’, which they recently put online as a free download, changes nothing about that. Title track ‘Nothing But A Nightmare’ breaks the routine: this song consists of 55 seconds of guitar noise and horror-a-like screams. It’s a creative track, but more a filler than a killer track.

So far Soul Search isn’t living up to the expectations in my opinion. Gladly the last song ‘Succumb’ is something worth listening to. A great riff-y mosh part in the middle combined with lyrics to scream a long and tempo switches. Yes, this song is surely the best one on the record.

Considering this is their third release I’ve expected a lot more from this band. Like said before, the riffs sound almost the same on every song and are very repeatingly. It’s almost getting boring. This isn’t a bad release, no definitely not. But it could be so much more and that’s disappointing. If you’re into the band this record won’t let you down, but it won’t bring you anything new either.

The record is set for release on February 19th through Back To Back records. If you’re quick you can still pre-order one of the first pressings here. The band also put their record online. It’s completely free of charge for you to download. Get it over here.

Track List – Nothing But A Nightmare

1. Never See
2. The Scapegoat
3. Soul Burn Slow
4. Nothing But A Nightmare
5. Succumb

Soul Search: Facebook / Twitter / Bandcamp

Written by Gijs Duijzer