Album Review: Nebülith - Feel Good Music for the End of the World Vol. 1
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
It will come to no surprise to anyone who has been awake for the last few years, that the title of this album has a subtle nod towards the pandemic that rocked the world at the start of the decade. Faced with time on his hands and no band, professional bassist, multi-instrumentalist and engineer, John Shaughnessy, decided to make a solo record and do all the instruments and vocals himself.
The result we now have is four years of work, experimentation, sweat and pain, under the name of Nebulith. This has enabled Shaughnessy to produce a project where his voice could be heard whilst doing and saying things that he wouldn’t usually be able to in a professional gig context. The journey begins with the energetic opening song “Beautiful” which shows the diversity of his talents straight from the off, several tempo changes, decent riffs and showcasing his distinctive voice, which is audibly addictive.
With so many recordings to go through, Nebulith took on a life of its own, and developed as a persona very different from his jazz and show band performances. The bass playing skills are so evident on “Startrippin” and it’s an inventive and creative sound that’s spread across nearly seven minutes, one that will get your toes tapping and head banging. It reminds me of early QOTSA bass inspired by Nick Oliveri, and you can hear his groove influences coming through.
The patterns are continued on “Mother Freedom” with the painstaking composition of progressively darker and angrier music being showcased, with the strained vocal adding more originality to the music, before “Leviathan” highlights a much more sombre feel to the album, yet it has a crescendo of a riff two thirds of the way through to carry the song to a different level. He incorporates a completely different sound for “Clear Light” more serene and gentle, which fits well, and it’s a song that allows the listener to embrace your inner thoughts and fly off to a happier place in your mind.
Then it’s back down to business with the raucous “God is Your Gun” with a stoner groove and heavy riff that most people are going to enjoy but then halfway, it goes soft and stuns you with crazy sounds and a weird vocal. It is completely out of the blue, different and then the pace is ramped back up again. It’s almost like 3 songs for the price of one and immensely enjoyable.
“Seven Suns” has that sumptuous drum and bass rhythm that is synonymous with stoner rock stamped right through the heart, with a fuzzy guitar tone to compliment it. It’s almost like Brant Bjork himself has written this number and for me, it’s the highlight of the album. With a 70’s rock feel to it “Digging A Hole” wraps up the album alongside the doomy 9 minute plus epic that is “UVB76”, which has that whole Sabbath ambience shining brightly. As stated previously, John Shaughnessy has found his voice, and long may it continue.
