Fields Of The Nephilim

Fields Of The Nephilim were a unique case within the traditional British gothic scene, dominated by bands like Cure or Sisters Of Mercy. A band that began to make a name for itself after all the dark masterpieces of Joy Division, Cure or Bauhaus had already been released, but which – even arriving at the tail end of a perhaps unrepeatable cycle – still managed to close out 1990 (the decade of post-rock, britpop and new electronic music) with an album as surprising and still relevant today as “Elizium”.

Carl McCoy, a devoted fan of Sergio Leone's cinema, singer and founder of the band, crafted a wholly original dark-western hybrid, with sprawling sounds clearly influenced by British psychedelia and decidedly removed from any ties to hippie culture. A style, if anything, far closer to the gothic worlds of Edgar Allan Poe and Howard Phillips Lovecraft, or to the esoteric visions of Aleister Crowley.

After two excellent LPs, "Dawnrazor" (1987) and "The Nephilim" (1988), the British band brought their journey to its definitive fulfilment with "Elizium" (1990), an absolute milestone of the entire gothic scene for its originality, damned poetry and sonic power, standing alongside the genre's great masterpieces. Fast post-punk rhythms coexist with sudden lysergic trips, black, majestic and unsettling, which can recall the sound of late-period Pink Floyd providing the backdrop to the desperate monologues of Jim Morrison or the secular prayers of Nico.

Although split into eight parts, "Elizium" is essentially a single journey into the underworld, a true black monolith with no chinks of light. Among the tracks that make the album so significant, pride of place goes to "At The Gates Of Silent Memory", with its calm pace and tragic lyrics, like a stretched-out version of "The End" by the Doors played on David Gilmour's guitar. Poetry and horror embrace for one of the most thrilling tracks in the gothic scene. It's no coincidence that to achieve such a unique sound the Fields had to turn to producer Andy Jackson, who had already worked with Pink Floyd themselves.

On "Submission", swelling guitars evoke the Swans of "White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity" before opening up into "Sumerland (What Dreams May Come)", the longest track in their discography (eleven minutes), with sounds that are by turns slow and enveloping, then pounding, drawing equally on both the Cure and the Sisters Of Mercy.

"And There Will Your Heart Be Also" is one of their masterpieces: a huge dark ballad that rips the heart from your chest with its sheer anguish and melancholy, with lyrics that offer an absolute summation of the human condition, perpetually poised between loneliness and the hope of living brief moments of happiness.

Amid these river-like tracks, these long, dark streams of consciousness, come - as interludes - the shorter, more typically post-punk tracks, such as "For Her Light" and "(Paradise Regained)", genuine guitar forays that interlock perfectly like pieces of a mosaic, rigidly black in colour.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

25/12/2022