NFD DEAD POOL RISING ALBUM JUNGLE RELEASE: JUN 12, 2006 REVIEW: JUNE 22, 2006

There isn't really much to say about this second album from England's NFD. Once again, the vocals sound like Carl McCoy, the guitars like the Wright brothers... you get the idea. With this sophomore effort, the band have chosen to re-create the sound which Fields of the Nephilim achieved with their second album way back in 1988.

It succeeds admirably on this front but falls utterly flat in terms of anything even remotely resembling an original idea. Apparently, they felt the need to re-hash the "Psychonaut" period of FOTN as well as there are several moments which bear more than a passing resemblance to that song.

There is more variety going on in the Dead Pool than there was on their head banging debut and the overt metal assault has been removed. If only this band didn't actually have a member who was in Fields of the Nephilim as they were doing their ground-breaking work in the 1980:s, I might be able to excuse it. I'd probably be very impressed that a bunch of musicians had the ability to emulate such iconic work but Tony Pettit is a member and he ought to be ashamed of himself.

PETER MARKS

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