On disbanding Fields of the Nephilim back in 1991, Carl McCoy famously decried ‘I am the Nephilim!’ to much derision in the music press at the time. And there’s no question that his vocals and lyrics and overall presence were key to defining FOTN, most fans would agree that actually, the rest of the band were equally integral to the first three studio albums, and while McCoy’s follow-up projects, including the ultra-metal Nefilim album ‘Zoon’ and subsequent recordings under the resurrected Fields of the Nephilim moniker, the fact is that NFD actually contains as much Nephilim any Carl McCoy project of latter-day version.
That said, Tony Pettit, bassist was both a founding member of FOTN and NFD, and now plays in both, and this seems like a fairly harmonious place to be given the history and the shedding of other key members of Fields.
Now, admittedly, during lockdown I began revisiting old goth stuff a fair bit, but I rather forgot NFD, largely because they weren’t part of my formative musical development in the same way. This release has given me reason to reconsider.
Lead track ‘Surrender to My Will’ is a slice of prime gnarly goth with a rolling tom-orientated drum that dominates the verse before breaking into a full-throttle chorus. It’s an eight-and-three-quarter minute monster that’s gritty and expansive calls to mind the bulk of the material of ‘Mourning Sun’, and Peter ‘Bob’ White is a dead ringer for Carl McCoy.
It’s a strong lead to an EP of vintage goth – that is to say second-wave goth that’s very much on a par with FOTN, with emotive passages and surging seas of sound.
|
Agh, but remixes. I’d have likely preferred this as a three-track 12” equivalent with ‘To Find My Heaven’ – which tips between Oceansize-like neo-prog epicness and out-and-out excess – and the brooding ‘Static on My Soul’ as B-Sides without there being four mixes of ‘Surrender to My Will’ and a second take on ‘To Find My Heaven’. It feels rather like gilding the lily and the reast, because less is more (although when the songs are all over six minutes long, you feel like you’ve already got more).
It’s a more than solid release, but probably won’t bring any converts who aren’t already into the Neffs style – which is a shame as it’s got some chops, and if it was a new band instead of a first release in 9 years, one suspects the reaction might be different.
|
