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shwartzheim
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:49 am
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:37 pm 
 

From their official page:

THE DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM
Back in the Studio

Fields of the Nephilim have been elusive on the live scene during 2014 with only a few exclusive appearances. They have been spending the time creating, writing and recording new material

"Now is the time for me to let go and release some new Nephilim tracks which have been constrained to the studio for some time.
Trying to concentrate the work and thoughts down to a simple single objective is always a difficult practice but thats the nature of the beast .
Easy to find the beginning but always hard trying to reach the end .
I'll always close the door behind me to begin but it then becomes hard to find my way out when spending so much time in the dark.
We are finally at the stage of recording and compiling the most important elements created and gathered ” says Carl McCoy.


Anyone's guess as to when this will actually be released, but I'm glad to hear an announcment.
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it refers to a guitar tuning where you take the E standard scale and "drop" you low E string to a D, enabling you to play power chords with a single finger. It is for noobs and children.

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Darth Bathory
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:17 pm
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 4:19 am 
 

Huzzahs are in order! That's the best news I've had all week - let's hope the new material is up to their usual high standards. Their last album surprised me by being as strong as it was (given such a long break between albums and very little recorded material from McCoy's camp - under any band name - since Zoon), so my hopes (and expectations) are certainly up.
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CF_Mono
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:21 pm
Posts: 1793
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 4:31 am 
 

I only recently discovered them and Elizium has got to be one of the best executed atmospheric/gothic rock albums of all time. Totally captures an authentic tone and drives it all home with pretty good tracks. Still not very acquainted with anything else they've done but this may be a good chance to initiate.
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shwartzheim
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:49 am
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 5:33 am 
 

As a slightly obsessive fan of all things Mccoy, this will be brilliant at worst and at best......??????? Having Tony the original bassist back in the band is an added bonus.
On the downside, he has a habit of announcing new (or any) material and it taking years to materialise (Zoon, Mourning Sun, Ceremonies live album/DVD) so it could be a few years before this sees the light of day.
On the upside, you can never accuse him/them of quantity over quality and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.
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rexxz wrote:
it refers to a guitar tuning where you take the E standard scale and "drop" you low E string to a D, enabling you to play power chords with a single finger. It is for noobs and children.


Last edited by shwartzheim on Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PhilosophicalFrog
The Hypercube

Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 7:08 pm
Posts: 7631
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 8:28 am 
 

Huh, I'll check it out, I never got into this band, but I think it's because I tried to when I was less musical than I am now - their aesthetic is super cool - so I should start with Elizium eh? what about Dawnrazor? I've only heard Zoon and it was a little underwhelming.
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Vipunen
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:32 pm
Posts: 160
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 3:39 pm 
 

PhilosophicalFrog wrote:
Huh, I'll check it out, I never got into this band, but I think it's because I tried to when I was less musical than I am now - their aesthetic is super cool - so I should start with Elizium eh? what about Dawnrazor? I've only heard Zoon and it was a little underwhelming.

From what I've gathered of your posts, you'll probably dig Elizium the most.

There's something unique about every album and there are lots of reasons I'd have a hard time picking any of them out as my favorite. Just great music all-around that I'm glad to have witnessed live. Here's to hope the new album is as good.

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Darth Bathory
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:17 pm
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 5:31 pm 
 

The only thing I'd suggest in listening to their first two albums for the first time is to listen to them as the albums they were originally intended to be, especially Dawnrazor. Subsequent re-releases of that album and its follow-up, The Nephilim have bonus tracks, which break up the flow of the album. In the case of the second album (or at least, the CD version I bought to augment the gatefold LP and give me something to listen to on the way to work) it's only one track added, an instrumental track called "Shiva", which although not a bad song per se, it's pretty underwhelming given where it's placed, being plonked as it is between the last track of side one ("Chord Of Souls"), and the opening track of side two ("Celebrate") - a non-descript plodder between rage and tempest on the one hand, and icy, brooding elegance on the other. The juxtaposition of those two tracks and the change in mood between the two halves of the album worked admirably before that "bonus" broke it up.

The change with Dawnrazor is even more pronounced. The original album is 8 tracks long. The CD re-issue is 13, and those tracks - from singles and EPs at other points of the band's career, with different production and in some instances a different vocal style (and an extra musician at one point) - are just strewn throughout the album with seemingly no regard for it's structure. It makes for a confusing, mismatched album, and a much less satisfying listen than when you experience the album the way it was released on vinyl - punchier and much more unified in terms of feel and vision. The other songs are just fine, by the way - a couple of them are right crackers, in fact - but they don't belong there, they belong where they originally came from.

Zoon is a different beast altogether. Although some tracks from this album are played by Fields Of The Nephilim live these days (there are a few on the Ceremonies CD/DVD package - and "Wake World" to me is a Fields Of The Nephilim track in all but name), it was released under a (slightly, admittedly) different name, as The Nefilim. It's an album that stands apart from the rest of Fields Of The Nephilim's discography due to the different line-up, obviously, but also the markedly different and much more metallic sound. I think there are recognisable elements of Fields Of The Nephilim present, but I don't personally count it as part of their discography. I guess McCoy might, given the inclusion of some of Zoon's tracks in the live set.

Elizium is the very model of how to craft an album as a whole. I'm not going to try to sum up how it does that, the music speaks most eloquently for itself - and I don't think any of the CD versions inserted extraneous material into the flow of the original track-listing, so go and find a copy of it and listen. It really is something else.

Mourning Sun as their most recent studio album is also worth your time and effort. It tends to get a little over-looked due to it being the most recent, and outside of their "classic" era of the mid-to-late 80s, but I think it's a very solid album indeed, and oddly given the time (and other releases, intended or otherwise - Fallen is an album whose release was not endorsed by the band) between the two, a pretty solid development from what they accomplished on Elizium, but with more of a song-based approach as opposed to a more atmospheric one. Don't let that turn you off either - both albums show a tremendous skill in crafting songs and atmosphere alike, but I think the balance tips slightly more in favour of one aspect with one album, and another in it's follow-up.

I am very excited to hear that they are making a new album. You may have picked up on that.
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RedMisanthrope
Poet Laureate of the Old Ones

Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 1:53 pm
Posts: 1861
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 8:45 pm 
 

About damn time.

Fields of the Nephilim is definitely one of my favorite bands, but they are a frustrating one to follow. They'll tease a "big announcement" and it will end up being three shows in Prague. I know I'm kind of ragging on them, but I am pretty thrilled to hear this news. I hope they don't make us wait too much longer. I'm very curious on how it will sound; "Mourning Sun" was such a departure from their early material, so it would seem logical that they would continue from that thread. It's been a decade since that album though, so who knows. Maybe we'll get another "Zoon"...
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shwartzheim
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:49 am
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 9:11 pm 
 

Indeed. Three shows and one song they haven’t played in while has been reintroduced to the setlist is treated as big news. Strange thing is when there is something that most fans would consider big news such as Tony re-joining the band, there’s barely even a mention of it in passing.
As for releases taking longer than necessary, well the Ceremonies live album and DVD are a great example: Shows were recorded in 2008, release scheduled for 2010, then three release dates broken in 2011, 2012 it finally appears………..and it’s a live album.
If we were to get another Zoon, I for one would be ecstatic.
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rexxz wrote:
it refers to a guitar tuning where you take the E standard scale and "drop" you low E string to a D, enabling you to play power chords with a single finger. It is for noobs and children.

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PhilosophicalFrog
The Hypercube

Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 7:08 pm
Posts: 7631
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 1:35 pm 
 

Wow...Elizium is amazing...like psych-goth-rock. Really enjoying it so far.
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hats prices are at an all time low

Spoiler: show
║\
║▒\
║▒▒\
║░▒║
║░▒║with this blade
║░▒║i cut those who
║░▒║disrespect
║░▒║Carly Rae Jepsen
║░▒║
║░▒║
║░▒║
▓▓▓▓
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]
[█▓]

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~Guest 62838
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:04 am
Posts: 1745
PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:20 pm 
 

Carl McCoy and co. need to get their gothic British arses over to North America. What's with these legendary bands that tour, but never do so outside their respective continents? Seriously, no promoters are willing to organize a reasonably-sized FotN North American tour? If legendary metal bands (that are relatively popular, but not so cult that it wouldn't be worth it) from Europe can get gigs here regularly, so can they; they have a large enough fan base overseas to make it feasible. :grumble:

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KinskiTemper
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:30 pm
Posts: 185
Location: SC
PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:45 pm 
 

PhilosophicalFrog wrote:
Wow...Elizium is amazing...like psych-goth-rock. Really enjoying it so far.


Best bet, in my opinion, is to check out every album they have released. They're nothing short of outstanding.

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SoundsofDecay
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 7:58 am
Posts: 129
PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:01 am 
 

Mourning Sun was about as mediocre and self referential as you can get. The first EP and 2nd album by this band are the best for newcomers I reckon. I used to really dig Elizium but now i find it a bit bloated and tedious. The Nephilim is as good an effective collection of songs as I've ever heard. Having said that I think the 12" version of Psychonaut is easily the best thing they ever did.

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CrushedRevelation
Devil's right hand

Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2005 8:47 am
Posts: 6070
Location: The cavern's core
PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 9:38 am 
 

PhilosophicalFrog wrote:
Wow...Elizium is amazing...like psych-goth-rock. Really enjoying it so far.


I LOVE this album. Such an amazing piece of work...

I will have to keep an eye out for this. Good news indeed.
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shwartzheim
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:49 am
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 10:06 am 
 

SoundsofDecay wrote:
Mourning Sun was about as mediocre and self referential as you can get. The first EP and 2nd album by this band are the best for newcomers I reckon. I used to really dig Elizium but now i find it a bit bloated and tedious. The Nephilim is as good an effective collection of songs as I've ever heard. Having said that I think the 12" version of Psychonaut is easily the best thing they ever did.


I initially thought the same about Mourning Sun, especially after taking so long to be released, but repeated listens changed all that. I find It to be the hardest of their discography to get into but given the time, the results are very rewarding (Requiem, New Gold Dawn, In The Year 2525).

I would agree with the Nephilim album being the best for newcomers and its also my favourite. Saw them in London last year and they played everything bar Phobia off of it. Was quite an experience especially as it was my first time seeing them live.
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rexxz wrote:
it refers to a guitar tuning where you take the E standard scale and "drop" you low E string to a D, enabling you to play power chords with a single finger. It is for noobs and children.

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~Guest 178973
Veteran

Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:11 pm
Posts: 3047
PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 10:37 am 
 

Only Dawnrazor is real.

Nah, all their albums are pretty enjoyable, but Dawnrazor...it's pretty much the pinnacle in gothic rock to me. Let's hope we actually get to have this album before 2525.

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Cursarion
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:56 am
Posts: 785
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 5:17 am 
 

I'm eager to hear what comes out, whenever it comes out. What's the lineup though? McCoy and some random people? An unstable lineup could make things harder...
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shwartzheim
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:49 am
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 7:38 am 
 

Cursarion wrote:
I'm eager to hear what comes out, whenever it comes out. What's the lineup though? McCoy and some random people? An unstable lineup could make things harder...


Lineup has been pretty steady for awhile now. Tony's back on bass so only 2/5 of the classic lineup are in place but Lee the drummer and one of the guitarists, Gavin, have been their for 6 or 7 years.
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rexxz wrote:
it refers to a guitar tuning where you take the E standard scale and "drop" you low E string to a D, enabling you to play power chords with a single finger. It is for noobs and children.

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Xymosys
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:19 am
Posts: 1253
Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 12:34 pm 
 

what's up with those guys?
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Sepulchrave
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:29 pm
Posts: 1994
PostPosted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:38 pm 
 

They released a rather shitty single that attempted to sound like something from Zoon but failed quite badly, and then... nothing new, it seems. I don't particularly mind, I just discovered them recently, but it must be annoying for the fans.
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