Heavier than the heaviest thing
For some, mention of a Nimbus will draw visuals of the seven seater people mover with a shiny Mitsubishi Motors badge on the front. They were never really considered 'mighty' however. But I digress. With a name like The Mighty Nimbus and cover art that looks like something from a Lord Of The Rings type graphic novel, I wasn't really sure what to expect when I hit the play button.
Coming from various bands including Alabama Thunderpussy, Chaos Witch, Avail, Sixty Watt Shaman and Electric Chair Horror, this quintet formed in 2002 in the North Woods of Minnesota (U.S.A.). Their self titled debut album was recorded live in just 24 hours between October and December 2003. Whilst they may seem impossible to some, let me tell you by doing so they completely captured the feel and essence of this band to perfection.
The very Corrosion Of Conformity meets Down opener Everything I See rolls in like a sea of thunder with thick solid riffs a plenty and some tasteful cowbell (!) throughout. I'll Never Weep's doom laden intro sets the mood with a sorrowful and oh-so-heavy vibe throughout which is pretty much the norm for the entire album. By comparison, Broken Hoof is quite up tempo overall but every so often they'll throw in trudging breakdowns that make you wonder “Why so heavy?” Drinking On A Pile Of Skulls is pure doom that would do St. Vitus proud. Even the brief piano driven instrumental curveball that follows called Fenrir is no less doom influenced than the rest of the album.
Raising The Mammoth crushes with riffs and phrasings the equivalent to the weight of a mammoth in a Crowbar-esque manner. Look out for Southern Stoner influences a-la Down mixed with the likes of Cathedral and Entombed on Impose My Will and Sacrement Of The Sick. Eclipse is the last of the original material here and it too is bogged down in huge muddy passages of quality sludge ridden doom before the album finishes with a cover of St. Vitus' Born Too Late (from their 1986 album of the same name). If the song itself and this version isn't heavy enough already, Jörgen Sandström (Ex-Grave and Entombed, now in The Project Hate and Vicious Art) delivers a crushing vocal performance to completely nail it.
To be fair, The Mighty Nimbus hasn't really pushed the boundaries of the genre to any great extext. Doom metal has been around for quite sometime in various forms (Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, Cathedral etc). What they are doing is continuing the tradition of doom metal and mixing it up with flavours of southern and stoner rock throughout making for one of the heaviest releases I've heard in a long, long time. You cannot call yourself a doom metal fan if you do not own this album!
(Threeman Records/Modern Invasion Music Distribution)
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