Nahemah – A Wanderer’s Star

By: David E. Gehlke

Gotta hand it to Spain’s Nahemah – they might be the first (and only) band to indirectly ape Opeth and shape it into something bold and engaging. Such wasn’t the case with their international debut, The Second Philosphy which was all over the map, with the sort of coherence only a drunkard could love. Much to Blistering’s surprise, their latest and greatest, A New Constellation is one of the year’s most captivating releases, leaving those Opeth comparisons (somewhat) behind.

Buoyed by striking numbers like “Much Us,” “Abystinthe,” and “Reaching the Stars,” A New Constellation marks a sudden surge for a band that has toiled in the Spanish underground metal scene for over a decade. This material just oozes progressive metal glory, the type that other Opeth doppelgangers would be strongly advised to look into. Guitarist/vocalist Pablo Egido checked in with Blistering – here’s what we got...

Blistering.com: The Second Philosophy was the album that broke you onto the international music scene. What is your recollection of this time and do you think it was the proper starting point for people to be introduced to Nahemah?

Pablo Egido: We think The Second Philosophy was a very good starting point to show our music to the International gallery. It was amazing because it brouhgt to us the opportunity to selling our cds all around the world and to playing tours abroad our country. That was a target we wanted to reach since we formed the band.

Blistering.com: To back track a little, describe what it was like putting together a band in the very non-metal territory of Spain.

Egido: We were totally conscious of the dificulties of forming a band with such a bad background in the Spanish metal scene, but we thought we were able to cross all the barriers working hard and believing in ourselves and in our music.

Blistering.com: Also, is there much of a metal scene in Spain?

Egido: Years ago [the scene] was nonexistent, and really really underground, now the scene is growing but still being poor and focusend only in Spain. Almost all the bands have no international concept, they only have a national concept, but there are exceptions, of course.

Blistering.com: Does the language barrier play a part when composing vocals/lyrics?

Egido: English is not a barrier to me because, luckily, I have used English properly, I write the lyrics directly in English and I think in English when I think the lyrics, with no problem.

Blistering.com: You’ve been doing the band for over 10 years, so why is it only now you’re releasing your third album?

Egido: We had a long break between our first and second album, it was caused by important problems with the line up that stopped us for so long. But now we want to release albums often and not making to wait to the fans too much.

Blistering.com: As time has worn on, you’ve gradually drifted from your extreme metal origins and have started to incorporate outside forms of music. What prompted this?

Egido: As artists we are persons, and as persons we evolve. Music is the vision we have of our lifes and it evolves with us as we evolve as persons and as musicians.

Blistering.com: As for A New Constellation, it appears to be more guitar-driven than The Second Philosophy. To that end, what was the goal when writing for the new album?

Egido: We wanted to write a very experimental album but we wanted to give to our songs more energy. That’s why you’ll find more guitar driven songs.

Blistering.com: A couple of songs, namely “Absynthe” and “Reaching the Stars” are arguably your strongest to date, both loaded with atmosphere and chilling hooks. For you, what ingredients take a Nahemah song to the next level?

Egido: I think the ingredients of a Nahemah song are the mix of the extremes of the wide range of influences we have, and then brought to the center with our musical vision.

Blistering.com: Where do you see Nahemah fitting in the metal scene?

Egido: We want to aspire to the top, but now is very difficult and being Spanish makes us the things more difficult. But we won’t give up.

Blistering.com: What band, if any has had the most profound influence on you?

Egido: Well, as I said before we have a wide range of influences and we listen a lot of music styles, but our music would be a mix of Mogwai, Katatonia, Amorphis, Isis, Pink Floyd, Placebo, Radiohead, Electronic music (Drum & bass, IDM..), and a little bit of stoner rock.

Blistering.com: Do you mind the dogged Opeth comparisons?

Egido: Is a real pleasure to be compared to a band like Opeth, it means our music is not so bad, but our music sounds more like other bands than Opeth.

Blistering.com: Finally, what can expect out of Nahemah in the future?

Egido: At the moment we are preparing a European tour that will be next Autumn. We hope to visit the US as soon as possible.

www.myspace.com/nahemahband