|
Nicodemus - "Vanity Is A Virtue" Reviewed by: Lou
Up until the time of buying this album (again it was an impulse buy) I hadn't heard of Nicodemus at all... and, months after buying it, I gave it its first proper listen today. Actually, there were several proper listens! I wasn't sure how best to describe Nicodemus' sound so I cheated and had a look on their website. There they are described as being "progressive goth metallers" which is, by all accounts, a pretty accurate description. I wasn't sure where to start when describing the album either, so I'll throw these words at you to give you some idea: Epic. Immense. Astounding. Flawless. I found that you need to listen to the album all the way through to really appreciate it. It was hard to pick one single song (or even two songs) to call the "best track" because they are all of exceptional quality. However, if you do only want to listen to one or two tracks then I'd recommend "Negative Ions", "Next In Nocturne" or "A Metaphysical Theory Of Dynamics". The title of the last one is a bit of a mouthful, but it's definitely worth listening to. The most accessible track here is probably "...And It Becomes You". This song provides Nicodemus with a fantastic ending to an amazing album. If the band ever saw fit, they could also release this one as a single. Usually I find something to complain about when it comes to the vocals. This time... Not one complaint. I loved the "extreme" vocals. They were spot on! The clean vocals provide a good balance and manage not to sound like every other band that mix the two styles. Nicodemus take the listener on a musical journey. One minute you're down, the next you feel yourself being lifted up by a lyric, guitar or piano piece. This is very clever stuff. A lot of it made me think of movie soundtracks. If, for some reason, Nicodemus ever decide to call it a day then Christopher Morris (vocal, bass, keyboards and founder of the band) could easily find himself a job writing scores for films. This album has a number of highlights. Some bits and pieces that caught my attention were; the guitar solo (at around 5mins 24secs) in the opening track "Benighted (this track is a full 9mins 18 secs of genius!), the guitar on "A Metaphysical Theory Of Dynamics", on "Negative Ions" there's some guitaring that has a definite spanish feel to it (this comes in at around 3mins 40secs) and there's some beautifully haunting piano/keyboard in "Next In Nocturne". It's a very rare thing when I find an album that I absolutely fall in love with. Normally I can easily find some kind of problem with whatever I listen to (be it vocals, guitar, lyrics..) - but I cannot find fault with "Vanity Is A Virtue". One thing concerns me though. If I can find this album so perfect... Where are the band going to go from here? Date added: 11/11/05 ::Comment on the ARSE forum:: |
