Customer Reviews

Before & After

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don't Listen to the first review, he's approaching it from the wrong side. The music is not full of cliche's.. Thats just It! McCoy is the Genuine thing.. Influences are drawn from Occult/Literate sources, IE. Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, Peter Caroll, Shakespear, Milton, Zoroastrianism etc.. You name it he's read it. Which gives us a deeply poetic outcome. As for the music, it's all very atmospheric, (Andy Jackson (Pink Floyd) Produced it). The Music has a rock element but with an Classical (maybe I dont know what I'm talking about here) arrangement. This is not for the faint hearted. The music is very dark and spiritual, and you will never find anything else as authentic as it in the World. The Fields are an experience not just a Band. If you get the chance to see them live go.. This is the best produced live album I have ever heard. If you want a culture shock, or are open minded get it.

For any goths who have asked themselves "who is the best goth band, Sisters of Mercy or bauhaus?", you've never heard Fields of the Nephilim, the most musically unchallenged goth band to date. Please give them a listen, and when you do, "Earth Inferno" is the CD to introduce one to them.

NOTES: "Earth Inferno" is composed of the first half of "Elizium"(Fields of the Nephilim's 3rd and final album. "Earth Inferno" is a live concert recorded at the end of their original formation.)The second half of the album is a collection of their epic songs (averaging 8-10 min. each) consisting of Last Exit for the Lost, Psychonaut, Dawnrazor, etc.

Almost nobody ever finds Fields of the Nephilim. On some of this live album, one wonders whether the scene was a small club, not the arena these sounds deserved. The Neph were a staggeringly good band that hit their stride only briefly, and this was right in the middle of it. The music is loud, melodic, moody but usually brisk. The instrumentalists are crisp and tight, virtuoso within the bounds of what they're trying to do. My only complaint is with the overly democratic mix, which buries my favorite soaring guitar parts from "Moonchild" and "Love Under Will." But the inimitable vocals of Carl McCoy aren't mixed up too far either. It's a great live sound. This band deserved more than to be pigeonholed as goth and ignored by radio. The day I hear this disc on XM will be a milestone.

It's been said before but it cannot be repeated enough - this is simply an awesome live album. If you are new to Fields of The Nephilim then this is the perfect place to start as it combines tracks from their 3 prior studio albums, i.e. Dawnrazor, The Nephilim and the most excellent Elizium. I have owned Earth Inferno since it's original release and still find it fresh. Too bad they didn't include the extended version of Chord of Souls from the Visionary Heads video that complements this release. Overall, Sumerland and Last Exit for the Lost are standouts for me but there isn't really a bad track to be found. Do yourself a big favor and pick up a copy.

Purely on its merit, this is an amazing live album. The output is far more loud and ferocious than their studio performances generally were. As a big FotN fan though, I'm not sure that's always a good thing. Rather the live album is a perfect compliment to the studio albums, it is not meant to be a replacement unless you are a metal fan in which case you may like this better. What is impossible to replicate live is the dreamy, ethereal nature of the studio recordings. The best moment is the perfect version of "Dawnrazor" - this is how this song was meant to sound and is far superior to the album version. In most other cases, I think the versions are merely different and I appreciate them for that.

A must-have for fans, and a great starting point for new fans who will likely find this more accessible (at least at first) than the studio albums. I know that's an odd thing to say, but for FotN it may be true since EI is more straightforward kickin' rock and far less complex than an album like Elizium.

I picked this up after reading an interview with Tim Finn where the reviewer indicated this disc was in regular rotation in his CD player.

Well, there was a time when I thought I might wear the thing down to a transparent nub. This is a smart, catchy, irresistible recording. "Persuasion" and "In Your Sway" are personal faves, but there isn't a weak cut on this disc, and you can't say that about too many of 'em.

Enjoy.

the fields' studio albums are examples of constantly higher artistic standards and demanding performance (musically and visually). with that in mind i couldnt know what to expect from a live album, knowing that excellent compositions can easily be ruined on stage no matter how good the band is. well you can put your doubts to rest. a fields live album is closer to a spiritism seance than to anything else; the reverb that's typical of stage releases enhances tenfold the power of each song.

if you're playing this loud, i can guarantee the chills! keys, guitars and bass entwine into a malevolent, crawling sonic smog, slowly spreading out. and from the depths, like the giant octopus emerges the crooning voice of the fields' frontman, its tentacles sensing the souls of those present.

occult lyrics carried by mcCoy's rumbling vocals infiltrate the mind and awaken memories of past lives, overworking the imagination to its very limits to portray visions of long lost times in the days of Sumer. guitars are strong yet give an impression of distance like a continuous pulse, entrancing audience and listener

with its almost meditative atmosphere, only to be shaken back in by the preaching voice of mccoy, strong and full of authority, than fading away into the pulsating music. a music that radiates an aura of mystery, toying with its listener like an attractive woman who, with her answers (or lack of them), drives her admirer crazy.

Don't get me wrong: I love Type-O-Negative...but this is the gothiest band ever. While TON have always had their sense of humor never very far away, FoN have always taken their stuff WAY too seriously. This album covers some of the darkest territory that FoN went into...the terrific intro leads straight into "For Her Light" - probably one of the neatest build-ups in Goth. Highlights have got to be "Moonchild" (loses a bit at the end), the wonderful building anger/insanity of "Love under Will" and "Last Exit for the Lost". "Psychonaut", previously only available as a second track on a CD single, is also excellent. The lyrics are haunting - hinting at things that you know shouldn't be looking at - if not always comprehensible: they will light a fire at the bottom of your spine that'll rock your day. Enjoy.

This is the most incredible live album I've ever heard. None of FoTN's studio albums moved me that much, but this is incredible - a record of not just a concert, but a seance, a spell, a happening of epic proportions. Carl McCoy's fluid, shifting takes on his own Crowley-inspired lyrics weave an incredible luminance over a blasted psychotic landscape.

If you like dark metal you'll find this album a revelation. I can't recommend it enough.

This album is a refreshing phase-shift from the blase pop-culture that constrains so much of modern rock music. Every track on this great album has you tapping your toes by the second bar, and his wonderful harmonies and his ever evolving scores and musical surprises leaves you gasping for more as each track fades to the next. You need a really good stereo as there really is so much going on. Tim's songs are simple songs done oh, so well.
I have to admit that every day I drive to work 25 miles - and I'm thankfull that Tim Finn keeps me company