Nephelium - Coils of Entropy

Nephelium

Coils of Entropy

by Lior "Steinmetal" Stein at 02 March 2012, 1:52 AM

Before reaching deep into the review I must let you know of the following. Though generally I like Death Metal without too much noticing whether its old school or modern, it has been always an issue when it comes to the vocals. Sometimes as a lyricist it is hard for me to listen to these low grunt pig squeal inhalations that just underrate the level of the lyrics, needless to say prohibit the ability to understand their meaning and message. On the other hand, this type of vocals has a way for being suitable on several occasions but still not in many. Therefore, I tried to be as objective as I could when it came to the following album by the Canadian based, NEPHELIUM.

With touches of DYING FETUS, SUFFOCATION, CARCASS, CANNIBAL CORPSE, SKINLESS and DEATH, this five piece crew blast with well crafted technical and brutal Death Metal that is a reflection how unmerciful their extreme approach towards the ongoing of society and the world’s present and future situation. There is a lot of anger within this band, just like in any other band of the type, but NEPHELIUM wanted to share their harsh notions through a concept story under the name of “Coils of Entropy”, their own independent debut album. Honestly, due to the hardship of understanding the lyrics and without a booklet in my hands, I didn’t know that this album was a concept until I actually read the publicity about it by Asher Media and the band’s Facebook page. Nonetheless, the music more or less foretold the outline scenery.

Without too much focusing on the vocals, though there were moments where those actually fit well with the brutish figure of the rhythms and riffing, I will set the score for the music. I think that NEPHELIUM’s powerhouse points are on their lead guitar and drum posts. Though sometimes taken out of concept, the lead guitar fretwork is amazing, guitarist Daniel Glover plays some serious mind blowing shredding solos in high quality. Furthermore, Alan Madhavan, ex-NERVECELL, on drums destroyed with intelligent beats and rhythm with amazing build ups that he rallied on several of the songs. Even though Death Metal is usually a ground for skilled drummers, I noticed that Madhavan tried to produce something different and it played out well for him. Along with the guitars, that also created some fine riffing alongside the solos, and drums, NEPHELIUM were able to put out promising varied tracks as “Merciless Annihilation” and “Coils Of Entropy”.

In overall, “Coils Of Entropy” is a exceedingly technical but still maintain a soul behind the music. I didn’t like the low squealed vocals because I think that the story behind the songs is important and should be understandable. This release is well written music wise and I wait to see more of them.