Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim

On Fields of the Nephilim's second album, released in 1988, if anything they dialled UP the drama, from their debut.  Although there were fewer uptempo songs this time around, the drop in tempo wasn't matched with a drop in intensity. 

It opens with a true epic, the seven-minute Endemoniada.  The layered guitars build up slowly, picking out swirling arpeggios, then 4 minutes in the pace quickens to introduce Carl McCoy's low growl.  It’s a great introduction to the album and it's followed up by the moody atmospheres of The Watchman which builds gradually to pounding intensity.  After the breakneck speed goth 'Ace of Spades' of Phobia, the band’s hit follows, Moonchild.  The song has a classic gothy riff, and actually crashed into the charts back in 1988.  The lyrics are strange enough but the track has an excellent doomy atmosphere.  And it's followed by another fast belter in Chord of Souls.

So what of the slower material?  Celebrate represents a complete departure.  McCoy sings (sings!) rather than growls over a moody bassline and very little else.  Shades of Joy Division.  Snatches of spooky chants and sinister organ introduces Love Under Will, a slow, lengthy epic with an excellent riff, some fine guitar playing here.  At times it's hard not to think of the Sisters of Mercy, though that's not such a bad thing.  The pacing is excellent with dramatic pauses in the instrumentation as McCoy sings "I'll send my child my last goodbye ".

There's still time for another epic with the final track, the almost 10 minute Last Exit for the Lost.  It builds very slowly on sparse, ringing guitars as McCoy groans gloriously "this could be my last regress".  The song simmers for six minutes or so before speeding up dramatically, McCoy losing it to great effect as he sings "we're getting closer.... last exit for the lost!" with real passion and feeling.  It's an incredible ending to the album, what is probably the band’s most representative collection of songs.

 

Goth – A History by Lol Tolhurst – Book Review

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Interview with John Robb – Part 1

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An Interview With Wayne Hussey of the Mission

Interview for www.spillmagazine.com

http://spillmagazine.com/features.html#The_Mission

Album Review: The Mission - The Brightest Light

Review for www.spillmagazine.com

http://spillmagazine.com/album_reviews.html#The_Mission

Concert Review: The Sisters of Mercy at The Olympia, Dublin

Review for www.meg.ie

Album Review: The Cult – Love

The guiltiest of pleasures. This was the Cult in their most “goth” phase. Though not as much out-and-out “fun” as Electric, this album did provide a much needed breath of fresh air in 1985 as this indie band rediscovered their desire to rock, as opposed to using intricate layers of jangly guitars a la Smiths et al.

To fully enjoy this album, you have to bear in mind that the 2 main men are 2 of those most ridiculous (in a good way) characters in music. On riffage you have guitarist Billy Duffy, who on this album was starting to find his true sound, though he clearly hadn’t discovered ACDC yet. Frontman Ian Astbury was in his red Indian phase at this point, as opposed to his later incarnation as “yayowing rock god mutha".

The band do take themselves quite seriously on this album (though not as seriously as the likes of the Sisters of Mercy). I implore listeners to ignore the pseudo-goth cover art, and the nonsensical lyrics and song titles (Brother Wolf, Sister Moon anyone?) and focus on the rockier tracks. The one track on this album that really became popular was penultimate track She Sells Sanctuary, which is still is a staple of most ‘indie’ discos. The tune is a little obvious for my liking, built on a descending guitar riff, but it’s very catchy.

Opening track, Nirvana (which I’m convinced Cobain and co named themselves after) sets the tone nicely for the album, with the drummer counting out a beat, before a driving Bully Diffy riff enters (sorry, getting too excited, I meant Billy Duffy) backed up by a pulsing bass line. The track is quite anthemic, with a fine vocal by Wolfman (I mean Ian Astbury) leading into a simple chorus which carries the music superbly. The guitars sound great in this one, particularly in the 2 bridges within the song. There’s a lovely touch at the end of the track when the music dies away and the drummer gives a little flourish on cymbals.

It’s a tough act to follow, and the next 2 tracks are perfectly fine, but a bit more like bog-standard rock songs. The riffs are kind of cool, though Big Neon Glitter suffers a little from a certain U2-ish 80s guitar sound. Title track Love is a good brainless rock song, but is unfortunately followed by one of the Cult’s moodier moments. This is one band who cannot and should not carry off a moody song, as the aforementioned Brother Wolf, Sister Moon is just substandard will-to-live sapping Doorsy nonsense, even featuring laughable storm studio sound effects. It’s also about 4 or 5 minutes too long.

However this bluster is blown away by another massive anthem, Rain. It’s a really uncomplicated song, which is the Cult’s forte, but it features a really good riff and growling vocals before exploding into a nice basic chorus (“here comes the rain, here comes the rain, here she (she!) comes again, here comes the rain”). Guitar soloing is kept to a minimum across the album as Duffy plays with great economy.

After a metalish experiment (The Phoenix) which sounds like an Alice in Chains prototype the band manage to tone things down to great effect with the relaxed Revolution, which stays on the right side of cheesey, lumbering along likeably with a nice pay-off in the chorus, which is just want you want from the Cult. You don’t want anything complicated, or worse, innovative from them, you just want great rock riffs with big choruses. They would refine this formula to even greater effect by teaming up with Rick Rubin on the follow-up album Electric.

Album Review: Woven Hand – Mosaic

Woven Hand is the brainchild of David Eugene Edwards (ex-16 Horsepower). He is a devout Christian, and his band’s music is Old Testament quoting modern Goth music, delivered with an American twist (ie a banjo features prominently). This 2006 album is a prime example of their sound. After a short interlude the album starts proper with the epic Winter Shaker which comes on like the grim reaper coming over the horizon. It sounds enormous, all crashing percussion and chants of ‘Alleluia’ and ‘all His glory’. It’s like nothing else in contemporary music. Turn it up very loud. Swedish Purse follows, with a funeral organ accompanied by banjo. It’s an exercise in tension-building, which Edwards excels at. There are subtle percussive touches which drive this track along.

The music is really beautiful in Whistling Girl, with its references to flocks of sheep keeping the Biblical imagery going. Edwards is really good at creating a foreboding atmosphere. After a short folky interlude, Bible and Bird, we get Dirty Blue, which is a great example of this. It has a Gothic guitar line accompanied by a fiddle, along with sound affects that sound like a coffin creaking… or a rack turning? You’ll want the wind blowing when you listen to it. Things get a little weird with Slota Prow, a long drone-filled song, but Truly Golden brings the album back on track, a slow brooding number with a sort of ‘Western’ feel to it.

The final two tracks are a little underwhelming, but overall this is a fine album. Its only musical ancestors would be the likes of the Mission and the Sisters of Mercy but this is Goth without the black clothes, make-up and dodgy hats.