Nehemiah "Lenore" CD
[Uprising]
Well, I can tell these guys are trying to push for more energy and more creativity, but I'm still not that into what they're doing on this EP. It's similar to what they offered on their last outing in that it's basically melodic Swedish death metalcore with two vocalists, one handling the lower growls and one handling the higher snarls, though this time around the two vocalists sound more similar to one another so it's harder to tell when they switch off. To their credit they no longer sound like Darkest Hour to me, there are some cool riffs here and there and in general they've become a little more frantic and dissonant with lots of lead based riffs and quick changes in tempo. However there's an issue with mildly sloppy guitar playing affecting the entire EP because the overdubs (the band only had one guitarist at the time of this recording) sound slightly out of synch with one another, which adds a jumbled sense of chaos to an already odd recording that doesn't benefit the quality of the band's stronger riffs here. The guitar tone is alright but has a dry choppiness to it that's working with the aforementioned timing issues to create a seriously confusing disposition, and since the bass tone is also a little dry it sort of gets mashed together in that mess, so you catch bits and pieces of thudding low-end, but you rarely get a sense of the definition they seem to have tried to lend the bassist. The drums and vocals sound alright, though I suppose the vocals are dominant in the mix on occasion, but it's mainly the guitars that need some cleaning up. At the start of "Return to Grandeur" some of the clean backing guitars sound like they're a hint out of tune as well, and these types of oversights are certainly something that the band needs to remedy in the future, as this EP would be a definite step forward for them otherwise. The seven-minute "Nepenthe" opens with clean guitars and piano before bringing in a quick acoustic passage and shifting over into midpaced distorted melodies that are far more interesting than anything else on the disc. Sadly they start to lose some of that force later in the track when they use some rocked out tempos that have more of a rhythmic arrangement that clashes with how fluidly the first half of the song builds up, but it's not a big deal. "Erelong" is similarly lengthy and also opens rather slowly with some powerful dual guitar layering and slightly chunkier backing chords, dropping down to fingerpicked acoustic guitars and whispered vocals midway through before sliding back into the churning midpaced rhythms. The fact that this is the most consistent track herein makes it my favorite overall, so that approach is something the band might consider honing in the future. The layout does look very nice, I have to confess. The imagery is consistent and I dig the typeface they used as well. The images of a crow and leaves are nothing new, but regardless the way they've presented it is darker and more mature than their last record's visuals, and I like what I'm seeing. The lyrics are a little overdramatic, though: "The rotting stench is universal and consumes all clarity. Reopen your desecrated, diluted chest. Dissect the wounds from yourself and let them drain..." I don't know, I'd like to give the band a little more credit for improving as songwriters on this outing, but the setbacks are still holding down the overall quality of the release. My main suggestion would be for the band to pay as much attention as possible to the performances and the mix next time around, because I don't think it would be very hard for them to tighten up the guitar parts or get a bit more detail into the variation between the guitars and bass, and that would make a huge difference in these songs. "Erelong" is especially significant of where Nehemiah might best be served to continue exploring. (5/10)
Running time - 23:07, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: Nepenthe, Erelong]
Uprising Records - http://www.uprisingrecords.com

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