Boogeyman Nightmare Begins Review
Boogeyman
Nightmare Begins
Self-Released
2026
Arizona’s undead sons, Boogeyman, have returned with an EP just in time for the season of the dead. The EP is entitled “Nightmare Begins,” and it’s a bit of a departure from the band’s normal melodic Horrorpunk formula. While “Nightmare Begins” is an EP, it only clocks in at 12 minutes with 6 tracks, so there’s not a whole lot of time for screwing around. On this outing, the band strips everything down to the bare bones and leans heavily into Speed/Thrash Punk.
The lyrical content is much darker than we’re used to, but with tunes hovering around the 2-minute mark, there’s barely enough time to dig in, give it much thought, much less take a breath. This thing comes screaming out of the graveyard gate and doesn’t let up. The music is ferocious, but Boogeyman can’t seem to stop themselves from writing great hooks and melodies. Despite all the speed, angst, and teeth-baring aggression, those melodies are still lurking underneath it all.
That’s not only a sign of a great band, but the telltale sign of a band that knows how to write a good song. And that’s what separates Boogeyman from a lot of their contemporaries in the Horrorpunk scene. These guys know their way around songwriting. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, and they’re certainly not trying to clone the Misfits or Blitzkid. They’re doing their thing their own way, and on “Nightmare Begins,” they’ve taken that familiar Boogeyman sound, thrown it into a meat grinder, and hit the accelerator.
It’s hard to talk about individual standouts because the EP moves along at such a feverish pace that by the time you’re picking up a vibe, you’re already being dragged into the next song. Instead, this EP plays like one nasty little nightmare. Each song, idea, and thought bleeds into the next until suddenly it’s over, leaving you staring at the speakers wondering what the hell just happened before hitting the replay button.
The entire EP is a standout and making it even more interesting is the fact that we’ve never heard Boogeyman in this setting. There’s something especially fitting about a release like this showing up as the nights get longer, Halloween gets closer, and the dead start crawling out of their holes.
“Nightmare Begins” is short, vicious, dark as hell, and over before you know what hit you. Given that we’re entering the season where releases like this should be dropping left and right, Boogeyman stakes their claim in the Horror scene with the speed of a jackhammer and the attitude of something that just crawled out of a freshly dug grave.
Rest assured, there’s nothing in Horrorpunk coming out in the next few months that’s going to match the sheer intensity of this EP. Big ups to the band for stepping outside the norm, sharpening the knives, and unleashing hell on us all!