Don Broco - Nightmare Tripping
- Samuel Stevens
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
On their fifth studio album Nightmare Tripping, Don Broco don’t just evolve—they detonate expectations. Marking their first release via Fearless Records, the Bedford quartet leans harder than ever into the chaos that has long defined them, crafting a record that feels simultaneously unhinged and meticulously calculated. It’s heavier, darker, and more sonically adventurous than anything in their catalogue, yet still unmistakably Don Broco.
From the outset, Nightmare Tripping establishes a sense of unease. “Cellophane” slices through with jagged riffs and an almost schizophrenic vocal performance, as Rob Damiani pivots between smooth croons, snarls, and full-throated screams. It’s a track that encapsulates the album’s core tension—vulnerability masked by bravado—while nodding to nu-metal’s resurgence without ever feeling derivative. The production, helmed by Dan Lancaster, is crisp yet volatile, allowing every glitchy electronic flourish and down-tuned guitar to hit with maximum impact.
“Disappear” follows with a stark emotional pivot. Built on pulsing rhythms and ghostly textures, it’s one of the band’s most affecting tracks to date. The drum and bass-inspired breakdown arrives like a panic attack in slow motion, underscoring the song’s lyrical weight—grappling with the guilt of walking away from someone in crisis. It’s this willingness to sit in discomfort that elevates Nightmare Tripping beyond a simple heavy record.
The album’s title track, featuring Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake, is as surreal as its premise suggests. The massive collab of the year is crunchy, swaggering, and unexpectedly cinematic. “Nightmare Tripping” blurs the line between dream logic and arena-rock spectacle. Kroeger’s unmistakable grit adds a layer of grit that complements Damiani and Matt Donnelly’s dynamic interplay, resulting in one of the album’s most anthemic moments.
Elsewhere, “Euphoria” showcases the band’s uncanny ability to fuse opposites. It’s seductive and aggressive, sleek and explosive—driven by a funky bassline that wouldn’t feel out of place in a club, yet anchored by crushing guitars. The chorus is pure Don Broco: massive, euphoric, and built to echo across festival crowds. Similarly, “Hype Man” thrives on that same duality, shifting between rap-adjacent verses and towering hooks, all while celebrating the camaraderie that has kept the band grounded since their early days.
Tracks like “Somersaults,” “Ghost In The Night,” “Pacify Me,” and “Swimming Pools” expand the album’s sonic palette even further, weaving in electronic textures, unexpected rhythmic shifts, and some moments of eerie restraint. Meanwhile, “True Believers,” featuring Sam Carter of Architects, delivers a ferocious high point—pairing Carter’s signature intensity with Don Broco’s genre-defying instincts for a track that feels both cathartic and confrontational.
What makes Nightmare Tripping truly compelling is its thematic undercurrent. There’s a persistent sense of instability—of blurred realities, emotional burnout, and the search for connection in a fractured world. Whether it’s the psychological unravelling of the title track or the introspective fragility of “Disappear,” the album never shies away from the darker corners of the human experience.
Closing with “The Corner,” the band opts for something more reflective, offering a moment to exhale after the preceding chaos. It’s a subtle but effective comedown, reinforcing the album’s emotional arc without neatly resolving it.
If there’s any criticism to be made, it’s that Nightmare Tripping can feel overwhelming on first listen. Its constant pivots—both stylistically and emotionally—demand attention and patience. But that’s also its greatest strength. In an era where predictability often reigns, Don Broco have doubled down on unpredictability, creating a record that rewards repeated listens and refuses to be boxed in.
With Nightmare Tripping, Don Broco haven’t just raised the bar—they’ve shattered it, rebuilt it in their own image, and set it on fire. It’s a bold, chaotic, and exhilarating statement from a band that continues to redefine what modern rock can be, and could be.
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