NFD
NO LOVE LOST
ALBUM JUNGLE RELEASE: OCTOBER 18, 2004 REVIEW: NOVEMBER 12, 2004

One thing you can know for certain these days is that anything coming from the Nephilim/Nefilim camp is going to be a certain style: metal. NFD are a relatively new act comprised of ex-Nefilim and ex-Fields of the Nephilim members. The selling point seems to be that Tony Pettitt (the Nephilim's former bassist) is involved. The other fellows in this act are not exactly well known. Almost everyone is connected to The Nefilim in some way or another. Incestuous, to be certain.
Does their work stand up on it's own, away from Carl McCoy? Does it matter at all? There are no surprises left from this camp anymore. We all know what they are going to sound like even when other members are no longer involved.
The vocals sound like Carl at his angriest (circa the Nefilim's "Zoon" album). The drums are pretty standard rock format with some flourishes invoking The Nefilim. The guitars are again from the same period and the bass is pure Nephilim. The one shining light in all of this is Peter Yates' involvement on guitar for a few of the songs. His abilities lift NFD out of the morass they are surely stuck in.
Production values on this album could have been better. The songs all suffer from too much low end mixing and not enough mid range input. This results in a murky record which if one listens has some interesting approaches buried within the sound field and utterly crushed beneath the smoldering riffs. Still, there's always the new album Carl is rumoured to be "working on" to lift the bar. Oh wait, no there isn't. Next, please.

PETER MARKS

AD