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Album Details
- Artist: Fields Of The Nephilim
- Album: Elizium
- Label: Beggar's Banquet
- Year of Release: 1990
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2007-08-27
RecommendWhenever a band shows significant concern towards other facets of their existence beyond the obvious (which is to perform and record music), this reviewer is quick to focus an eye of uncertainty upon them. For instance (to use a modern piece of reflection here), the Used were, once upon a time, a band without a care towards their mainstream appearance and direction. Now, we know that not to be the case, as they've let the integrity of the overall sound go in favor of falling into the money pit. It's a nice place to be, but it proves an example when it comes to defining good and bad music; if you don't care about the music, the music suffers. So, as it is, when looking at Fields of the Nephilim this reviewer instantly doubts them. From their spaghetti-western themed costumes to their occult underpinnings and front-man Carl McCoy's fascination with a controversial religious topic that earned the band their name and much of their lyrical and musical inspiration. All that focus on the aesthetics would appear unhealthy and it's often the same for the listener who comes across these 'and-then-some' - type outfits.
Only for Fields of the Nephilim, 'and then some' means exactly what it says. Elizium, their 3rd album and the last thing they'd do under that banner for 15 years, proves that beyond any doubt. Drawing inspiration from the most unlikely of places such as classic western film scores, ancient religious stories of fallen angels and their half-mortal spawn (the Nephilim, as they're called), occult symbolism and black magics, the sounds that rise from the ethereal atmospheres created by the band go hand-in-hand with every piece of the image the band (McCoy in particular, mind you) has created for themselves. It's a sound that'll bring to mind latter-day Bauhaus, if you could compare them to anyone at all. Goth-rock tinged with a hefty amount of country-twang, symphonic arrangements and a dusty sort of apocalyptic atmosphere. Heavy on the groove most of the time, "For Her Light" and "Sumerland" show the band's songwriting talents at an all-time high. Several tracks reach the seven-minute mark and a few go a ways beyond that, but never do any of them become redundant or out-of-place. Excellently played by all accounts.
What really creates the feel and passion here, however, are Carl McCoy's dark, prophetic and often-times dominating pipes. The coolest thing about it is that, much like the dust-jacket and dirt-caked boots he so often dons, Carl's voice sounds as if it's just come into contact with a monster of a sandstorm. Sounds like grit and grime, rising up in a righteously pissed-off bad-ass cowboy-demon-angel-drifter-killer hybrid. Something ungodly. It's the something that counts the most. And boy does he ever pen some creepy lyrics...
Fields of the Nephilim have been around longer than I have, so you know they're doing something right. One of those examples is Elizium, an underrated classic in the goth rock genre, perhaps not shocking us out of our wits the way "Dawnrazor" did, or impressing us with a single of mammoth proportions and the ability to read and react on the fly like "The Nephilim" was capable of, but you can't argue with the results; good is good. Great is better. Elizium is good, damn good.
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on 2011-07-11 CharlesMartel Said:
I came to this album with more than a mild feeling of trepidation. Goths have never been my style, too much make up and morose attitude for my liking. But more to the point, the more I heard and read about " Elizium" the more I was put off by what sounded to me like a load of unnecessary pretension and pomposity. Yet, the album came highly rated through a friend of mine so I decided to swallow my doubts and check it out.
Essentially "Elizium " is a concept album based around the obsessive vision of lead vocalist Carl McCoy. For a start, the band never play live gigs, they hold rituals and while they are doing it they look like they have all just walked off the set of a Sergio Leone film. Then there is the subject matter, and here we get into territory where I have a tendency to switch off. McCoy obviously read "The Epic of Gilgamesh " at some point in his life for the underlying theme of everything on this album is a personal interpretation of Sumerian myths. Even the songs reference Sumer with tracks like " Sumerland" and " Wail of Sumer" . And just in case you are wondering, the Nephilim of the band's name is a biblical reference to an otherwise unknown race of giants. In case you are doubting, the band, or at least McCoy, are all deadly serious. I can assure you this is not a piss-take. Throw in a bit of Aleister Crowley and there you have it.
If you are anything like me, by the time you have got to this point in the review you are either rolling your eyes or sniggering. You will not be the first. Back in the band's heyday the British music magazine " Melody Maker" ran a spoof weekly column purportedly written by drummer Nod Wright which portrayed McCoy as an delusional egotist, Nod as a naive idiot and the rest of the band as practical jokers who were always sabotaging McCoy's grandiose schemes.
But anyway, enough of the negatives which, incidentally, seem to have little to do with the music and all to do with the image the band puts out. The music itself comes as not unexpected after what you have just read. There is a great deal of swirling atmospherics created by synthesisers and McCoy's low baritone adds a kind of shamanistic quality to the whole thing as if he is more chanting than singing. There is more than a hint of Pink Floyd in it all and that may be down to the fact that the album was produced by long-time Floyd collaborator, Andy Jackson.
Despite all the criticism I have thus far loaded onto the Fields of the Nephilim, "Elizium" turns out to be not a bad album. I suppose if you are into Goth or the more atmospheric aspects of metal, I could see how you would regard this as a masterpiece. All the songs run together so at times it is a bit difficult to discern where one ends and another begins, but I guess that is a deliberate ploy to enhance the continuity of the concept. At times, the band can produce some truly vibrant work, particularly the guitar solo during " Submission ". The album opens with a short instrumental scene-setter, " Dead but Dreaming" before taking you on a ride through the mythological and mystical world of Carl McCoy's mind. There are indeed some wonderful moments in the album, where the music takes you and leads you on a manic chase through the imagery of the words. But there is also a lot of hanging around waiting for sufficient dry ice to gather at the edge of the gloomy forest at night while synthesisers swirl around. The climax is reached with the anthemic "And There Will Your Heart Be Also" which brings the album to a forceful climax.
"Elizium " is the only album by the Fields of the Nephilim that I own and I have to say I think it is likely to remain the only one. The album can set a mood but I am not the kind of person who buys into the mythological and mystical nonsense - good yarns yes and I enjoy reading them as yarns but living the life of it, no. I enjoy this on rare occasions but never feel a pressing need to put it on and listen to it in its entirety and never would I approach this in the ritualistic sense in which the band seem to have played it.
Rating: 7/10
