Mourning Sun By Fields of The Nephilim

Nephilim Wolf

When I first heard that Carl McCoy was making a new album and going under the name 'Fields of The Nephilim' I was extremely sceptical because of the blasphemy that was 'Fallen' which I heard the previous year. The 'Fallen' album was really just a mish mash of unfinished demos, that I did'nt find to be that impressive or memorable. I also thought the guitar sound on the 'Fallen' was incredibly boring, unimaginative and lacking in texture. Anyway on to the review at hand which is 'Mourning Sun'. Before making a purchase of this great new album I decided to download some tracks to see if it would be worth getting, and I was also hoping that it might in some way live up to the timeless and unforgettable 'Elizium' album from 1990. Sometime afterwards I purchased the limited Edition of this album in HMV.

It turned out really impressive and majestic much to my enjoyment and amazement. When I first heard 'Shroud (Exordium), Straight to The Light, New Gold Dawn, She and the title track are all jaw droppingly good. It really impressed me because I thought that Carl might have lost the knack for the grandiose long tracks of yore like 'Love Under Will, Last Exit For The Lost, At The Silent Gates of Memory, Sumerland & so on. Requiem XIII-33 (Le Meilleur Silencieux) which means (The Silent Watcher) took a while longer to get into but really harks back to glorious tracks like 'Wail of Summer' & 'At The Gates of Silent Memory' which is very evocative, erie and a truly compelling listen each time I hear it. This song in particular never picks up the pace, and you do expect loud guitars to come kicing in after a while, but it never happens, which is probably a good thing in a way otherwise it might get a bit predictable each time you hear it, and the magic would be lost.

I will skip past Xiberia (Seasons In The Ice Cage) because it sounded almost too industrial for me, and it was not my cup of tea at all. The next two songs are beautifully crafted pieces of gothic rock, and they will take you back to the dreamy 'Wail of Sumer/And There Will Your Heart Be Also. If you buy the limited edition of this album it includes the Zager and Evans cover of 'In The Year 2525'. I reckon this cover just blows any other cover versions completely out of the water, it's that good. Overall this is very impressive indeed and it's nearly all I had hoped for. Thankfully Carl decided not to do many heavy parts like The Nefilim album 'Zoon'. Most of the album is very much based in the realms of trad goth rock, so thats a major plus for me.

The main reason I'm not giving this album a 10/10 is because of Xerbia which is way too industrial for my taste, but if it had of been a more trad haunting piece I probably wouldn't have hesitated in giving it a higher rating. Also the chorus in 'Straight to the Light' that is a bit iffy but a brilliant song nonetheless. I also miss the subtle but powerful drumming of Nod Wright and the guitar work of Peter Yates and Paul Wright. If you find yourself longing for the glory days of Fields older albums this might just be what you are looking for.