Nebelnest ~ France

Nebelnest (1999)

France's Nebelnest (stylized as NeBeLNeST, which I find annoying to my eyes) hit the progressive rock world by storm in 1999, though it appears - sadly - that they are largely forgotten today. This debut is an incredible document. Imagine Belgium's Present playing the music of... Group 1850. Never has the edgy 80s and 90s merged with the most exciting and experimental psychedelic bands of the late 60s, as well as Nebelnest has achieved here. The two part 'Psykial Trysm' is something really special, and truly surpasses peak experience status. A high water mark for music such as this. Seriously, it has everything from the tribal drumming, to the mellotronic mystique, to the fuzzy Ratledge-styled keyboards, onto epic psychedelic guitar climaxes with a spastic rhythm section blasting it all to the stars. My goodness, what a piece of music! And that's hardly the end of the journey. It's just the beginning actually, and there are many other examples I could point to. This one will leave you breathless. If you are like me, and the idea of late 60s instrumental psych mixed with high energy angular and angry avant prog sounds like a fetching concept, then by all means grab this CD.

Nebelnest carried on for two further albums, though they were much more towards a direct fashion, similar to the aforementioned Present actually (or mid 70s King Crimson if you insist), but leaving behind the late 60s Pink Floyd / Ash Ra Tempel psychedelic Kosmische... unfortunately.

Whatever the case, this debut album will most certainly be rediscovered, and be considered a highlight of the era in which it was released. Might be a few years yet. My guess? The 2030's...

Ownership: 1999 Laser's Edge (CD)

1999 (acquired); 2/14/16 (review); 6/6/21 (update)

Nova Express (2002)

---5/15/11

When Nebelnest first burst onto the scene in 1999, they were a revelation. A mix of aggressive space rock and cosmic 60's Pink Floyd-like sounds, and for me represents one of the best albums of the 1990s. With Nova Express, the band tightened the ship, and were pretty much all aggressive... all the time. Gone were the hazy psychedelic dreams, and its place dark nightmares became predominant. With this shift towards constant intensity, Nebelnest always seems like they're in the middle of the song. So I do miss the build-ups and ultimate release. Very good album, but not to the level of their debut.

---9/15/25

In hearing the album again for the first time in 14 years, I agree with much of my viewpoints from above. I didn't mention, however, the heavy use of mellotron (confirmed to be real). This does soften the edges quite a bit on what could be a very tiresome effort. I also like that the rhythm section is going bonkers throughout. Reminds me a bit of Corima minus the obvious Zeuhl pacing. 

I'm pretty amped up on this title, and going up a half star, which is where I think I started in the first place back when it came out.

Ownership: 2002 Cuneiform (CD). Booklet with recording details. Sports a top ad strip as well.

2002 (acquired); 5/15/11 (review); 9/15/25 (update)

Also own and need to review Zepto.

5/15/11 (new entry)