Nehëmah

"Requiem Tenebrae"

Especially on the third cut of this album,”The Elder Gods Awakening”, Corven and the rest of Nehëmah seems to have a firm grip in the horror-melancholy-like mood, that seems to flow unrestricted through this entire album.

Above the other songs on this album, “The Elder Gods Awakening”, majestically rises above all the other good ideas of how a stone cold and cynic/melancholic black-metal album should be assembled.

The general sound of Nehëmah is typically underground, and I assume that the underground is where Nehëmah feels the most at home. According to the fact sheet that came with the record, the band was not too keen on emerging into the light of public attention, when they released their first demo “Light of Dead Star. That is probably why the release was made in only 166 items. Soon after the release, the whole band thing were put on hold for several years. But in 2000 the Nehëmah metal-machine emerged from the dungeons of oblivion, when Corven added two new members to the line-up of Nehëmah. After the re-emerge, the band got together with the producer Ludo Tournier, in order to produce and record Nehëmahs first “real” album.

Later on – in the winter of 2002/2003, the creative effort gave birth to the album “Light of a Dead Star”. This seemed to be the album that the French black metal masses had been awaiting for a long time. The release harvested lots of attention and killer reviews. Not only in France, but also pretty much everywhere else, the news about the record came to public attention.

Shortly after the release, they gave a bunch of well attended shows, with such acclaimed bands as Immortal and Hypocrisy. This album was a great aid in the effort to establish Nehëmahs position as a bright star on the French and international black metal scene.

Back to the “Requiem Tenebrae” release, this oozes from musical melancholy. The border between when it’s suitable for the music, and when it’s way too much, is really hair fine. But after the first few listening, I think that Nehëmah stays on the right side of that border. Despite the fact that the album “Requiem Tenebrae” is a pretty darn intense experience in general, I never reached the point where I thought that, this is not going to last. I cannot stand the dark clouds gathering above me, or how ever it can be explained? “Requiem Tenebrae” is a tense album crammed with atmosphere noir and untamed energy, but I was able to strand it, and I’m sure you’ll do the same. All the time there’s something going on, on the record that makes you want to stick around to get more. A melodic bridge between verses, a solo or whatever.

The overall impression with the technical side of the album is as positive as with the music itself. “Requiem…….” is very well produced, and has a very clear and crusty sound. Vocals and instruments are all well-balanced, and no single element in the music dims the rest.

So if you’re looking out for an album with lots of gloomy atmosphere and darkish spirit, this Nehëmah release is a great place to begin your search.

Visit the Nehëmah hellsite at:  http://www.nehemah.org