The Membranes | Fields Of The Nephilim
Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
17th December 2022

Fields Of The Nephilim embark on another dark voyage as they perform their landmark 1988 album The Nephilim in full.

Few bands have as strong an identity as Fields Of The Nephilim. Even seen in silhouette — partly obscured by a dry ice fog; wearing their trademark wide-brimmed hats, mirrored sunglasses, long duster coats, cowboy boots, and a shroud of mystery — they’re unmistakable. Musically, there’s nothing quite like their pairing of what would become goth signatures (baritone vocals, chiming chords, bleak soundscapes, a bass player convinced they’re lead guitarist) with twangy Spaghetti Western slide guitar. And lyrically, Carl McCoy’s interests — religion, the occult, the Victorian underworld — shaped a post-apocalyptic world to match the music’s brooding sense of unease.

That identity is once again on full display at Shepherd’s Bush Empire tonight as the group perform their landmark second album The Nephilim in full. Never mind that only guitarists Gavin King and Adam Paul Leach are in the complete cowboy getup — there are enough steampunk gunslingers in the venue to make up the numbers amongst the obvious young and old goths, punks, metalheads, and T-shirts-and-jeans brigade.

As evidenced not just by their clothing, a Fields Of The Nephilim audience is far more diverse…