The Band
Back to Fields Of The Nephilim
About the band...
(taken from the Revelations sleave)
Fields of the Nephilim, 1984-1991
In the early eighties, at a time when alternative rock encompassed many different strands
of musical
creativity--whose common aim was a refusal of mainstream rock and a desire to explore
deeper regions of
the emotional psyche--a host of new bands emerged to enact their own blaze of assault.
Times have
changed, and many of those bands were unable to weather the choppy waters of shifting
trends and fads.
Only the music of the truly dedicated, or the truly unique, has survived. Fields of the
Nephilim are of these
latter bands. Although this retrospective heralds a new era, in that Fields of the
Nephilim, as they were, no
longer exist, it is a fitting obituary for a band that has become a phenomenon. The music
presented in this
collection has survived the previous incarnation of the band.
Fields of the Nephilim came into being during 1984, with members Tony Pettitt (bass), Paul
Wright
(guitarist), Carl McCoy (vocalist), Nod Wright (drums) and Gary Whisker (sax). The name
was drawn from
the Biblical legends of the Nephilim, who were fallen angels, expelled from Heaven for
divulging hidden
knowledge (including magic and medicine) to humankind. This reflected McCoy's abiding
interest in matters
occult and arcane. The band began gigging in abundance and that year produced their first
e.p. Burning the
Fields, on their own Tower label, after which Whisker parted company with the band.
Originally, only 500
copies of this e.p. were pressed, but on the strength of it content, and the band's live
shows, Fields of the
Nephilim were soon signed up by Beggar's Banquet, a label that promoted several seminal
alternative bands
of the eighties such as The Cult and Bauhaus.
Joined by a second guitarist, Peter Yates, The Nephilim's first single with Beggars,
Power, was brought out in
1986 on the subsidiary label, Situation Two. The band were continuing to gig regularly and
had established
their own, individual image. Many assumed this simply to be a pastiche of spaghetti
western chic, as it
involved hats, long coats and a floury patina, but the essence behind their image of dust
and death was more
enduring, and gave the first insight into the Nephilim's fascination with the darker side
of life--the unknown,
the beguiling and mystifying--which was to permeate all their songs. Lyrically, visually
and artistically, the
concept of the Biblical Nephilim, as interpreted by McCoy, was the impetus behind Fields
of the Nephilim
from beginning to end. It was these interests which were to propel the Nephilim
(reluctantly) into the genre
later known as Goth, although their obsessions were much more in tune with the original
inspirations of what
was Gothic--a literary tradition that spanned centuries--than the devalued and hackneyed
extrapolation it has
since become. Power was followed later in 1986 by the single Preacher Man, which
engendered the first
Nephilim video, directed by Richard Stansley (director of Hardware and Dust Devil), who
was a
long-standing friend of McCoy's. Preacher Man reached number 2 in the independent charts.
In 1987, the band's first album, Dawnrazor was released, which made a significant impact
upon the polls in
the music press. By now, the Nephilim had established their distinctive sound and visuals.
At gigs, dramatic
and evocative effects were conjured by deceptively simple adjuncts, such as harsh, white
backlighting to the
stage and copious billows of dry ice and smoke. The music was powerful, yet haunting;
evoking both a
harrowing tension of apocalyptic despair and an uplifting aurora borealis of hope. At this
time, it became
destiny that a multitude of young, hopeful guitarists would one day attempt to emulate the
controlled
freneticism of Wright and Yates, and the sepulchral snarls of McCoy. The core of the bands
loyal following
adopted the generic title Bonanzas, a tongue-in-cheek gesture toward what the media
assumed the Nephilim
to represent.
With the next two singles, Blue Water (1987) and Moonchild (1988), the band attempted to
further the
visions created with their first video. Although financed by low budgets, the video to
both singles are
mini-features; a far cry from the self-preening and posturing affairs that many bands
aspired to at the time.
Both these singles reached number 1 in the independent chars, and Moonchild reached the
Top 40 of the
standard charts. The band's second album, The Nephilim, appeared in 1988, as well as the
first live concert
video, Forever Remain. The album reached number 12 in the Album Charts. The band look back
to these
times as the most exciting, when their reputation was exploding into dominance, and the
information service,
The Watchman, was attracting fans faster than could be dealt with.
In 1989, the single Psychonaut was release, which spawned a new limb of The Nephilim's
following: The
Psycho-Vikings. Psychonaut was inspired by an artistic theory known as the Golden Section,
and was seen
by the band as their most experimental project to date. The accompanying video caused a
considerable stir,
melding striking images with hypnotic sound. (The videos to Preacher Man, Blue Water,
Moonchild and
Psychonaut were release as a collection Morphic Fields, in 1989) The band continued to
tour intensely, and
in 1990 released their third album Elizium, with its associated singles and videos, For
Her Light and
Sumerland. In 1990, the live double album Earth Inferno was released, supplemented by a
concert video,
Visionary Heads. This revealed the Nephilim at their most potent. Gigs were now
spectacular events. From
the moment you entered a venue, you were aware that something extraordinary was about to
happen; an
intense atmosphere of excitement and trance-like tension pervaded the space. When the band
came
on-stage, this was release in a gush of power; the only reality being smoke, and light and
resonant sound.
Fans became a sea of clawing, baying dervishes, writhing hypnotically to the invocation
enacted on the stage
above them. In retrospect, perhaps events were reaching a peak. An important cycle was
approaching
completion, and indeed had to be completed, before individual members of the band could
begin new cycles
in their careers and creativity.
As such, perhaps it should not be viewed as lamentable that, early in 1991, Fields of the
Nephilim performed
their last two gigs, the Fire Festivals, at the Town and Country Club in London. It was
the climax of their
manifestation, and a fitting finale for the band that had become a phenomenon.
Peter Yates, Tony Pettitt, Nod and Paul Wright have moved on to form the band Rubicon, and
are now
forging a new sound and concept, aided by vocalist Andy Delaney. They releaed their first
album, What
Starts, Ends, in 1992, to critical acclaim, and have toured both in England and Europe.
Carl McCoy is
himself working on a new album, with new musicians. The chosen name for the band is The
Nefilim--which
utilises an alternate Hebraic spelling of the original name. The album is scheduled for
release in 1993, to
coincide with their first tour.
Storm Constantine
May 1993