Nahemah - A New Constellation
Rating
RIYL
OpethNovembre
Agalloch
Shining
Release Date
05/25/2009
Label
Lifeforce RecordsTracklist
1 Much Us2 Absynthe
3 Follow Me
4 Reaching the Stars
5 The Perfect Depth of the Mermaids
6 Air
7 Under the Mourning Rays
8 The Trip
9 Smoke's Men
10 Outer
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When it comes to progressive death metal the first (and sometimes only) band that comes to mind is Opeth. Being purveyors and pioneers of the genre, they're so far ahead of the game it's very rare any band comes close. There are a few worthy exceptions that come by now and again, however, and Nameah are certainly one of them.
Nameah aren't your ordinary run-of-the-mill death metal band. Much like Agalloch and Novembre, the band utilize post-rock soundscapes, but they also have a penchant for coating their music within a deep, dense atmosphere. From the opener “Much Us,” this is immediately apparent. Warbling futuristic key-work permeates a repetitive riff which gradually swells until an ambient breakdown hits, but shortly thereafter rejoins the initial riff until the track runs its course.
The band utilize both 'clean' and death metal vocals in similar fashion to Opeth, but are probably more comparable to Novmebre's Carmelo Orlando. Pablo Egido is responsible for the dual vocal approach and delivers both a wraithlike wail, which is employed for the ambient bits, and a classic death metal croak is applied to the heavier parts. Egido showcases this to full effect on “The Perfect Depth Of The Mermaids” and “Under the Morning Rays”; both initially starting out as prog death pieces but slowly transforming and trailing off into post-rock / metal ambience.
Every track featured here is peppered with warbling key-work and is smothered deep in a melancholy atmosphere that never falters; however, at times Nameah can seem to concentrate too much on the atmosphere of a song rather than actual song-craft, and while it is a redeeming feature of the band, over the course of the album it can slowly become a negative aspect as the band utilizes repetition to build up that trademarked atmosphere, and unfortunately towards the end of the album the band do seem to retread already covered ground.
You may also notice the production isn't as crisp and clean compared to some of their contemporaries, and the band do seem to favor an almost under-produced black metal sound. Maybe this production contributes a big part of their style, but it would be interesting to see what a big-name metal producer such as Andy Sneap, Jens Bogren, or maybe even Steven Wilson could do with this band, as sometimes the production and lack of deviation seems to be holding the group back from achieving true greatness.
--Rich Taylor
Comments
Minnesota
Their last album I thought was frickin' amazing. This one isn't quite up to the same level, but it's still pretty damn solid. I don't think the production is as big of a problem as you note, but it does feel a little under-polished.
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PA
Hmm...seems I should check this out.
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Infinitely Inwards
Almost in complete agreement with Rick as I also thought their last release was amazing. It's too bad though that this band can't quite seem to be nearly as epic and polished as triple A bands like Opeth and Novembre. This band just doesn't have the catalouge to compete. I hope they improve and start becoming a contender in this genre like they used to be.
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