Having built a considerable and passionate fanbase, the
Nephilim approached their second album with confidence and a clutch of stunning
new songs. The resulting, semi-self-titled release blows away the first by a
mile (the art design alone, depicting an ancient, worn book with strange
symbols, is a winner), being an elegantly produced and played monster of dark,
powerful rock. Even if McCoy's cries and husked whispers don't appeal to all,
once the listener gets past that to the music, the band simply goes off,
incorporating their various influences (especially a good dollop of pre-Dark
Side of the Moon Pink Floyd (think songs like "One of These Days")) to
create a massive blast of a record. Buchanan again produces with a careful ear
for maximum impact, whether it be the roaring rage of "Chord of
Souls" or the minimal guitar and slight keyboard wash of
"Celebrate"; McCoy's vocal on the latter is especially fine as a
careful, calm brood that matches the music. Perhaps most surprising about the
album is that it yielded an honest-to-goodness U.K. Top 40 hit with
"Moonchild," which is very much in the vein of earlier songs like
"Preacher Man" but with just enough of a catchier chorus and softer
guitar part in the verse to make a wider mark. Though the first part of the
album is quite fine, including such longtime fan favourites as "The
Watchman" and "Phobia," after "Moonchild" the record
simply doesn't let up, building to a fantastic three-song conclusion.
"Celebrate" is followed by "Love Under Will," a windswept,
gloomily romantic number with a lovely combination of the band's regular push
and extra keyboards for effect. "Last Exit for the Lost" wraps
everything up on an astonishing high; starting off softly with just bass,
synths, one guitar, and McCoy, it then gently speeds up more and more, pumping
up the volume and finally turning into a momentous, unstoppable tidal wave of
electric energy.
Ripped from CD to classic smoke machine darkness FLAC
Fields Of The Nephilim; The Nephilim
1. Endemoniada
2. The
Watchman
3. Phobia
4. Moonchild
5. Chord
Of Souls
6. Shiva
7. Celebrate
8. Love
Under Will
9. Last
Exit For The Lost
You’ll find more from The Nephs lurking here
many thanks
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome
DeleteI heard Moonchild twice, once 33 years ago one afternoon in 1988, and once yesterday. Youtube finally showed me who else wore cowboy hats besides SoM, it looked like who I'd seen on Nightflight, I knew we were dealing with a Cowboy Hat Goth Band, after that I cycled through the tunes and there it was, with the verses, chorus and bridge that I had remembered. I went through similar unsolved obsession with Felt's Primitive Painters, in 1993 I had just asked the internet about it, and someone in the UK identified the song based on my verbal description, and actually sent me the CD via international mail. I don't even think I paid them, they said don't worry about it because it was extra cd.
ReplyDelete