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Let’s get right to it. Let me go for the throat. That way, you’ll get a sense of the music on Nephelium’s latest release, Coils of Entropy. After just one listen, there’s a sense that there’s no time to hesitate, no room for error. Instinct is essential. And like the aural assassins they are, the Nephelium boys get in, wreak havoc, and get the hell out — damn the body count, the consequences.
So yeah. I love this record. It packs a punch. Bonus: It’s made by a gang of cool Canadians, two of whom happen to be from Dubai (more on that in a second). Most of all, though, I love this record because it’s heavy, brutal and epic.
Heavy ’cause it’s gotta be. This is a Death Metal band, after all. No strings or keyboards here, thank Satan.
It’s brutal and begs volume. This is not something you slip on at the coffee shop while Googling “silly cat” pics and installing tax-filing software. . . No. This is music for beating the barista to a pulp just for skimping on the cappuccino foam. No, no. No violence here. Love your Barista! Caffeine is a moshpit essential, after all, and you’ll need to be on the city’s coffee-grinding experts’ good side.
And this record is indeed epic. Two of the six tracks hit the six-minute mark while one goes over eight minutes and another surpasses the 10-minute mark. Too long for true Death Metal, you say? You are right, fellow headbanger. Thumbs up, kid. But minus one point for not allowing for the fact that every rule has an exception, and the title track for Coils of Entropy is that exception. Not only that, it is one of my new favourite tracks. Killer. A real work of art.
And I do not use the A-word lightly. Forget the fact that you can only make out a word here or there. Forget that it is 10 minutes and seven seconds long. Just sit back and let your jaw drop as you realize the track never once loses your attention, never once removes its barbed meat-hooks. Accept it. You are defenseless. Enjoy the ride.
Song length is just one way Nephelium screws with the DM recipe. The wild assortment of tempo changes and chugging riffs mashed with ear-searing solos and a bucket full of screams, wails, grunts and barks spill over the lip like so much guts. I’ve listened in at least 20 times just to savour the steaming smorgasbord. Yes, the nightmares were worth it.
To get the scoop on how such an amazing record could even exist let alone be made in a country like Canada, I spoke with guitarist Alex Zubair at his Toronto-area home. Zubair and fellow founding-member and drummer Alan Madhavan now call Toronto home after emigrating from their native Dubai, a metropolis just south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.
Alan & Alex in the forefront; Flo Ravet, Devlin Anderson and James Sawyer.
“Dubai is definitely one of the more cosmopolitan cities in that region, but Metal is still very underground,” says Zubair. “I remember a time in the 1990s when we had to smuggle music in, and my subscriptions to Metal Hammer and Terrorizer would sometimes make it to me, sometimes not. It depended on whether the authorities could sniff out this kind of contraband.”
So how does a band so brutal and entrenched in the Death Metal ethos emerge from that part of the world? Zubair admits that making music in his native land was beyond challenging. “There was no internet access back then. Plus, we had to build our own rehearsal space from scratch. Like every other place, the neighbours complained and the cops shut us down.”
But like any enterprising youth culture with a combination of rebelliousness and do-it-yourself gusto, the kids were all right. Dubai’s Metal subculture found a way. “Luckily, there were a lot of underground shows with hundreds of kids. The shows would be advertised as a regular style battle of the bands, just to fool the authorities. Pretty soon the bands would attract thousands and, as usual, local investors and promoters saw the money potential. Everything changed after that. Now you walk into an HMV or Virgin Megastore in Dubai and the Metal section is huge.”
In Canada for 10 years now, Zubair and his mates have encountered new challenges when it comes to the music they create and adore. “Toronto has a lot of bands, but there’s not much support, there’s not as much unity compared to Quebec,” says Zubair, sighing.
“Toronto is home for us now, we’re based here, but we want to change things. We want unity and we want to create a support network for the scene. There are amazing musicians and bands positive energy is lacking. Bands will play for a while but, eventually, they give up,” he says, adding that Quebec is his favourite province for Metal attitude, and his bandmates look forward to playing here hopefully sooner than later.
Perhaps another relocation is in order? Time will tell. In the meantime, check out this record. If you’re a Death Metal fan and you don’t like this album, it might be time to consider turning in your membership card.
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