Nightmare is considered a visual kei collective, and with a name like that, and the album title Killer Show, one may expect gothy and brutal music, perhaps even in the vein of Dir En Grey.

But names are misleading, and by their fifth studio album, Nightmare don't really qualify as a heavy band, although they themselves may believe otherwise.

Sure, the first two cuts on the record have a Slipknot/Deftones feel, and even a slight Helloween aftertaste, and generally Nightmare is one of those bands who don't know how to play slow, although faster-than-Offspring tempos pump some adrenaline into Killer Show, perhaps simply to justify the band's name.

But the prevalent style on the record is pop-jazz -- a well-established J-rock influence, thanks by Tokyo Jihen and Yaida Hitomi -- and a huge part of the album sounds, indeed, like a messier and speedier version of Tokyo Jihen with bigger guitars.

The marriage of hard rock and jazz in Nightmare's case, however, isn't made in heaven, maybe because the album is neither heavy nor loungy or inventive enough, but most likely because it's not rich in hooks.

Killer Show still has some good points (such as "White Room"), but it's far from killer.