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Nefilim
Zoon
(Beggars Banquet - 1996)
I got my hands on the limited edition of this amazing CD. This is Carl McCoy from the masterful gothic rock band 'Fields of the Nephilim' trying his hand at death metal. Even his clean vocals at the time were raspy and powerful, or as one critic put it 'sounds like he gargles with sandpaper every morning'. So his death metal growls/shouts here are simply staggeringly harsh and full of emotion. This is a moody and emotional approach to deathmetal that sometimes gets atmospheric but it lacks no intensity. It sometimes sounds like the death metal has taken control of him and runs off at breakneck speed rather than the opposite. This can be good or bad - I think he hasn't mastered songwriting using death metal yet but the effect of this CD is amazing. You might call this a death metal version of Pink Floyd - absorbing and slightly atmospheric yet very intense. There are many gothic rock sections here that simply serve as part of the whole mood of the CD. The whole thing is one unit, weaving emotions and stories one into another. Those of you wanting a new approach to death metal with a full sound and dark moody involvement should definitely get this. Another CD that grows on you - top marks! Oh, and the artwork is possibly the best I've ever seen.
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