:: Nahemah - The Second Philosophy

Nahemah

In the last twelve months, German based label Lifeforce Records has made some effort to move away from signing metalcore/post-hardcore acts exclusively, and it certainly proved the point with their first release of 2007. Founded as far back as 1997, the Spanish act Nahemah primarily started out as a symphonic black metal act with their first two releases before losing three members to the short-lived side project Böem. But with the introduction of a new rhythm section into the group, and six years since between releases, Nahemah has further expanded its sound, with the album ‘The Second Philosophy’ best described as progressive death metal. The opening number ‘Siamese’ is an interesting take on progressive extreme metal with the abundance of keyboards vying for as much attention as the guitars, while Egido's melodic death vocals are counteracted beautifully with the harmonised clean backing vocals. Around the three quarter mark, the music takes a gentle turn away from the standard path to allow some angular riff structures to be showcased, giving Nahemah a different sound from most within the progressive field.

‘Killing My Architect’ and ‘Nothing’ don’t stray too far from the formula adopted by the opening number, while ‘Like A Butterfly In A Storm’ takes the atmospheric elements of the last couple of tracks and utilises that as the song basis, rather than relying solely on the death metal aspect. The gentle building ‘Change’ is once again another change of direction for the band, with the keyboards pitted perfectly against the underlying savage riffing and growled vocals, while Hammond organ heavy ‘Labyrinthine Straight Ways’ and ‘Phoenix’ see the band incorporate some tasteful and unobtrusive Amorphis like saxophone work toward the tail end of both songs. ‘Subterranean Airports’ is certainly one of the more straightforward and different sounding numbers on the album with its distinctly modern post-rock influences, while the soothing closer ‘The Speech’ gently draws out the albums final moments in stunning fashion.

While Nahemah has been compared to the likes of Opeth and Dark Tranquillity by most, an amalgamated mix of Novembre, Amorphis and Moonspell is perhaps far more accurate description wise. As difficult as ‘The Second Philosophy’ is to describe, there’s no confusion amongst most when it comes to stating the brilliance contained within Nahemah’s third album.