Nethermost – Alpha (2013)

Originally released as an independent EP, today we have Nethermost debut EP “Alpha”. Hailing from the USA, one would have never imagined this by just listening to the band’s excellent Melodic Death/Doom Metal. With clear influences of early Katatonia, October Tide and similar bands, the band delivers nearly 20 minutes of very well crafted tunes that are quite melancholic and melodic in nature.

When researching the band we have noticed that for this release they used fake (aka programmed) drums and bass guitar, something that made us a bit skeptical about the quality of their music, but they managed to pull it off quite nicely. Opening with “Phasing Currents” we immediately hear the familiar Katatonia-esque guitar sound accompanied by raspier growls. The music is a bit raw, but works well and adds more character and melancholy to the band’s sound.

Continuing with “The Untroubled Kingdom of Reason”, the band’s melodic riffing is quite effective and nicely engages the listener by switching some things around to avoid being overly repetitive. The leady guitar work is quite solid and the overall sense of pace and melody is very well carried through the song (and the release in general). “Tower of The Winds” is one track that we felt it was more of a continuation of the previous one (it uses virtually the same leads), this is ok since it is the band’s first release, but we expect more maturity and diversity from them in their next releases.

“Dance of Burning Beasts” closes the album with another dosage of killer riffs and very mellow and Doomy atmosphere. The band keeps things a bit more diverse in this one, allowing it to nicely close the release on a high note. If you are a fine of October Tide, and early Katatonia, you do not want to miss this solid debut EP. We are quite pleased that an American band is taking a risk by playing in this awesome musical genre, and we are sure that Nethermost will only improve with time.

Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records

Release: June 14th, 2013

Genre: Melodic Death/Doom Metal

Country: USA