Six years have passed since NahemaH's first album, appropriately named Chrysalis. Since then, the Spanish band has morphed from melodic death/black metal to mature atmospheric metal. Swirling with rich guitars and tasteful electronics, NahemaH's new album, The Second Philosophy, is a journey through many moods. Vocalist Pablo Egido gave Metal Injection some signposts for the trip.
It's been six years since your first album. What took so long?
There were not exactly six years of silence because in 2003, we recorded an unreleased EP called The Last Human. After that, things stopped a little with lineup problems. Between 2003 and late 2005, we were composing The Second Philosophy and restoring the lineup.
It took you some time to find a label for your new album. What reactions did you get from labels initially?
It took us almost a year to find labels' reactions. We received answers by a few small labels, but we decided to wait for a bigger and better one, and in August of 2006, Lifeforce Records showed us their interest in signing a deal with them.
How has the reaction been from fans?
It has been really positive. People's reactions are bigger, as we expected in the beginning. We hope our fans' numbers grow in the future more and more.
The change in sound is so great as to be almost the work of another band. Was this change a conscious decision?
There have passed some years between Chrysalis and The Second Philosophy, and there's a big stylistic change, but the essence is still the same. The change was a mix of conscious decision and the natural evolution of us as persons and musicians.
Albums that sound like The Second Philosophy weren't out six years ago. Did musical sounds or trends in between affect NahemaH?
We are very open-minded people and musicians, so we had time to experiment and to listen to sounds in between all these years. All this influences and affects NahemaH.
I played NahemaH to someone else, and they accused the band of being an Isis clone. What would you say to that?
I think that these people must grow their musical culture, because to say that NahemaH is an Isis clone means that NahemaH is exactly equal to Isis. If you analyze NahemaH's music and Isis' music, you'll hear it's not the same music. Isis is just only one of our big list of influences.
The promo of your CD had no printed lyrics. What's going on lyrically?
This is a very important part in our compositions. We conceive music and lyrics as a perfect couple; lyrics must fit perfectly inside the music. That's why I write the lyrics after the music is composed. I find the inspiration from the feelings the melodies cause inside of me. I sing about experiences and human feelings, always viewed through a poetic and metaphoric glass.
Is "Killing My Architect" a religious reference?
Absolutely not. This song talks about the things that have built your mind, and now they must be destroyed because you have changed and have to build new ones.
There's a cinematic aspect to NahemaH. Is this a conscious decision? If so, what films influence the band?
We like so much cinema and we are great fans of this genre, but there is not an explicit influence of cinema in our songs. But when I listen to the song "Phoenix," I remember the movie Metropolis.
Is that a real B3 organ in "Labyrinthine Straight Ways"?
Yeah! Parts of “Labyrinthine Straight Ways” and “Today Sunshine Ain't The Same” were recorded by a Hammond.
What's the metal scene in Spain like?
The Spanish scene is eminently heavy and power metal. If you play a different kind of metal, you will stay in the underground. That's why we wanted to jump to the international market. Lifeforce Records allowed us to start doing that.
There's not much Spanish in NahemaH's sound…or is there?
NahemaH has not the typical Spanish metal sound, but we want to give the strength and passion of Spanish and Mediterranean people.
What do you want people to get out of The Second Philosophy?
We want people to catch the deeper feelings we expose in our CD. The Second Philosophy is not just a CD to play…it is composed to think and to look inside ourselves.
