One minute you’re luring punters to your circus to see bearded ladies and strongmen in in 1832, when suddenly you’re transported to a stage in north London. To your right you notice the guitarist is a transvestite so that’s OK then.
THE MEN WHO WILL NOT BE BLAMED FOR NOTHING [7] are more punk than steam, and fairly unique. Carl McCoy’s black-clad cowboys have always been outliers. Their dark, occult sound, rockier than their peers – more gothic than goth – is talismanic in the extreme metal world too.
Playing Elizium almost in full, with only Submission being omitted, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM [9] are a dark triumph. From the opening notes of (Dead But Dreaming) they have the leather and velvet-clad hordes held in total control. A dreamy and ethereal quality permeates the set – you might find yourself drifting off in a patchouli fug but with there is some solid muscle to the riffs. Moonchild and Dawnrazor are naturally crowd-pleasers and they close with the rousing Last Exit For The Lost. Perhaps it’s because their influence is spreading deeper into the metal scene but the Nephs feel more vital and exciting now than any time in the last 30 years.
