Alternative Weekend: Numph

Why is it when I discover a band with some potential, they have already broken up? It's the story of my life, I tell you.

I picked up on a comment while browsing that Facebook, ‘thing’, the commenter stating, 'if you like this, then listen to this'.

I take comments like this with a pinch of salt generally as when listening I hear the same old crap, more generic sounds, or regular humdrum that does not tingle my bells.

On my first Numph listen, or is it supposed to be spelled all in upper-case 'NUMPH', I heard something. Now fuck me.., now this is a very rare case so I did some digging.

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They are an Italian Prog-Rock band formed in 2011 and have released all their material on Bandcamp. I know @steevc goes on about this source of music but I have never taken a lot of notice until now.

They released a debut EP named 'Four Zoas' full of more grungy sounds in the guise of Opeth or Tool with a touch of Karnivool as a garnish.

Then came a larger offering 2 years later in the form of ‘Theories of Light' which is slightly little less in your face followed by a single offering in 2015 and then GONE!

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The GONE part is a damn shame as they have a lot of potential.

I paid around 7 Euros for their entire discography and feel it was money well spent. I hope we have not heard the last of them. They are doing what Opeth did before they went all soppy.

Theories of Light – Numph (Theories of Light - 2013)

This is the song that brought the band to my attention and the title track of their middle release, which at 8 tracks is a little short to be considered an album, or is it?

I can hear Tool very clearly in the song but unlike the American alternative outfit, halfway through we get a switch from clean vocals to growling more reminiscent of Mikael Åkerfeldt and an ever so Opeth sound. I'm sure @dannewton will approve.

Oneiros - Numph (Four Zoas - 2011)

From their initial EP, this one is more in your face but surprised me with a complete change of direction halfway through and I thought I was listening to the music from the original Diablo game for a minute.

If you like Gothic dark stuff, with a mixture again of clean and growling then this one may be for you; more for the Opeth fans without the extreme hardcore sounds.

Black Madonna - Numph (Black Madonna - 2015)

The final song I wanted to highlight has unfortunately not been placed on YouTube by the band.

You can still hear it here: https://numphband.bandcamp.com/track/black-madonna as an audio track.

I did think the band may be mellowing after my initial listen of the first few minutes, but that is not the case as the song digresses into some growling further on.

It is a very accessible tune and I wonder if this was the direction they were heading before the tunes dried up.

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It struck me that these dudes are quite young and not the general gnarly bunch that produces progressive music. Now I know those Italians can produce some sounds that I actually like.

...and just look at that artwork. If you want to be a progressive band then you need shit like this..., it goes with the territory! As a buyer of their discography I also was gifted a large .pdf file with all the lyrics and artwork.

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