Having formed in 2016, Nømadus blend Thrash with grooves and a slice of Prog and has had a few line-up changes since its inception. The band from Belfast, Northern Ireland had the joy of playing the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival this year and now have just dropped their debut album.
So how does this intriguing blend of styles play out in reality? There is a very strong hint of the grove of Lamb of God meeting Machine Head in the opening few minutes of the album, before this vocal that feels like it’s come from a Black Metal band. The result is something that is unique and very good.
As the opening track ‘Last Words of Wisdom’ progresses you can hear an influence of Gojira but please don’t take these references to other bands as suggesting they have ripped them off. Far from it, it is as if they have taken the favourite parts of different sounds and blended them together to make something even better.
As the 9-track, 50-minute album progresses, you stop picking out influences as it becomes a very strong Nømadus sound that Thrashes and riffs very hard whilst that underlying groove continues to weave its way through the aggressive sound.
‘Fraction’ is one of those songs that you could listen to repeatedly, with the perfect balance of Thrash pace and fight, matched with some impressive Prog aspects and the double kick drum at the start is a delight!
The vocals really set the band apart from most others as you don’t tend to find such a Blackened and harsh vocal paired up with the Prog or even the Thrash elements, so to have it here allows for the magic to happen.
Axis Primordial is a stunningly strong debut album from the four-piece ad they should be very proud of what they have put together. From start to finish the tracks will get the pulse racing and the head banging as Nømadus bring us this new offering in the world of Metal and if this debut is anything to go by, the future is very bright for this band. They are now on my radar and hopefully, this album will get them on a lot of other people’s playlists too.
Nømadus – “Axis Primordial” is out now worldwide on CD and all digital formats. CD is distributed globally via CODE 7 Distribution
Ed Ford
Tracklist
- Last Words of Wisdom
02. Apex Breath
03. Fraction
04. Hadean
05. The Ultimate Fuse
06. Paradox (Nerve Burn)
07. Pounding Curse
08. Scent of Death
09. The Passage
Online
https://nomadus.bandcamp.com/album/axis-primordial-2
https://www.facebook.com/nomadusni/
