NYMF - From the Dark (album review)

Amazing cover artwork by Jan Örkki Yrlund

Transubstans Records's NYMF (note for sticklers: correct spelling is all caps) is a Swedish metal supergroup featuring members of The Graviators, Trollfnask, Unfaithful & Wulfgar.  The short history of the band (formed around 2007) reveals a revolving door cast of featured players in the great Shakespearean and Spinal Tappian traditions, adding a new rhythm section of Robin Ingemansson of Unfaithful on bass and Tommy Lindskog of Wulfgar on drums to the solid core of Niklas Sjoberg & Martin Fairbanks of The Graviators and Kristofer Stjernquist of Trollfnask (and also Seeds of Cider).  Fairly recently, the band released a split single with Swedish stoner legends Dozer.  NYMF's offerings on the single were "Possessed" & "Fear of the Doom" (the latter songs was a digital only bonus track) which ended up as the starting lineup of songs on 'From the Dark'.  Each of the two songs is direct and to-the-point with solid doomy riffs, a stubborn insistence on driving rhythms and are totally studded in metal.  It's a sensibility that pours from the top down to the rest of the album.

The way the album starts right off the bat on the aforementioned "Fear of the Doom" with a pulse of double kick which breaks down into a slower beat creates the impression that NYMF's approach to songwriting is to throw the kitchen sink at a song during the jamming process, then pare everything down to its essential strength.  Whatever their modus operandi, the result is that the songs make the maximum impact with as little fuss as possible.

"Black Core" emits the pungent stench of horror through pleading vocals and a brushstroke of eerie atmosphere.  There are many highlights on this album:  "Drive" and "Thin Ice" comes easily to mind as well.  But "Lucifer Takes the Crown" is probably the most ambitious and far-reaching song on the album.  The boys in the band push themselves to a higher level and carry that momentum into the next track "In the Name of Vlad".  "Your Soul is Mine"s undulating and driving riff is infectious like an insect egg in the cranium.  This trilogy brings the album to a level not seen since the opening pair of tracks offered its initial smack in the head of introduction.  Dynamics and melody return to the fore and we are treated to a right pummeling courtesy of Lindskog.  This is when the band is at its best.

They are listed as "stoner metal" on Encyclopedia Metallum, but I think that's missing the point.  Pulling influences from all corners of the heavy spectrum, no album has felt as purely and simply "metal" to me than this one for a good long while.  There should be more bands like this, you can't just dismiss or label NYMF as "oh, they're a doom band" or "they're a black metal band" or whatever it may be, they're just a metal band and they're a pretty damn good one at that.  'From the Dark' should appeal to just about anyone fan of metal who hasn't completely specialized their tastes in a particular subgenre or other.  This is a great album with a ton of energy.  Highly recommended for one and all!

Highlights include: "Fear of the Doom" and "Lucifer Takes the Crown"

Rating: 4.5/5


Tracklist:
1). Heleionomai (1:05)
2). Fear of the Doom (4:46)
3). Possessed (4:14)
4). Black Core (4:12)
5). Evolution Blues (5:08)
6). Thin Ice (5:11)
7). Postmorten (4:30)
8). Drive (5:36)
9). Lucifer Takes the Crown (4:06)
10). In the Name of Vlad (4:05)
11). Your Soul Is Mine (4:07)
12). The Greatest Burden (6:07)
13). Like a Giant Orange Sun (3:35)
Total Run Time: 56:36

From: Karlshamn / Olofström / Bromölla, Sweden

Genre: Metal, Doom, Stoner

Reminds me of: Cardinals Folly, Church of Void, The Graviators

Release Date: September 11, 2013

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