REVIEW: Process - a true journey with Netherhall

This week sees the long-awaited release of Netherhall's debut album, Process. Formed eight years ago, the band's formative years saw the Imacular EP, victory in the Birmingham Metal 2 The Masses, and a performance at the unveiling of the city's Black Sabbath bridge. Since solidifying their lineup with Matt Preston on lead vocals - alongside Lewis Ward on guitar, Tom Bushell on bass and Jake Raybould on drums - they released two singles prior to Covid and returned to Bloodstock in 2021. Plenty going on, then.

Netherhall - Disintegrate (live at Bloodstock 2021)

Process thematically deals with the process of life and death and everything in between. As the band put it themselves, 'after 8 years of ups and downs, lefts and rights and life itself, we are thrilled, relieved, and most of all proud to release Process, our debut album. This has been a labour of love for the last 5 years of our lives, which has been an emotional roller-coaster and in many ways, we can feel that whilst listening back. We feel honoured to have worked with two amazing minds to bring the album into manifest, Owen Davies and Peter Miles.'

'Everything that happens in life is a Process, from the growth of a plant, the geological history of the planet to the formation of a human being, all forms of natural Process. Natural death is a process, the greatest mystery of life is what happens after we die. What goes up must come down, but what if, what has happened once, happens time and time again, like a repeating pattern, such as we find in music. Music is a Process, from learning to play a musical instrument to writing/recording an album, and this is our ‘Process’.'

Eerie volume swells open Generate Pt. 1, with melodic playing and a brief verse serving as a prologue. There are indications of both the light and shade to come, bleeding gently into a more dissonant section before morphing into Ruminate, the first 'proper' song. Longtime fans of the band will already recognise this one as an established live favourite, with rich melodies and emotive dual vocals. Its off-time rhythms are locked in seamlessly and tastefully, with a cool variation and exploration of the main heavy riff to keep the song flowing and breathing. It sounds super gritty with the lower octaves dialled in. Slowly but surely it fades into nothingness, reimagining the main vocal hook in a calmer, more ethereal way. The way that existing ideas are evolved is a tasteful approach to prog, keeping a strong focus on the songwriting.

Currents begins with the unique sound of natural harmonics on the bass. The song's powerful chord voicings, Tool-inspired details in the riffs and rhythmic pattern towards the end, repeating like a hypnotic mantra, gives it somewhat of a meditative and spiritual feel. It's followed by The Needle, an album highlight that really lets all members shine - after some very cool delayed background guitar effects this serves as a great example of how important the bass is. Waiting a couple of minutes to come in, you really feel the way it elevates the song, locking you into a trance with its main 5/4 groove. Tom's use of delay as the song progresses is excellent, and as the song ascends and descends it settles into a breakdown that might be the nastiest, dirtiest and most dissonant groove Netherhall have committed to tape. I remember how punishing it was the first time I heard it live, especially within the context of the song which for the most part is a little lighter. 

Netherhall - The Needle (live in Birmingham, Dec 2022)

We're definitely within the darkest part of the album by this point. Infernal offers a short, dissonant interlude, led by some cool work on the toms - the voice over is mostly obscured in the mix, but occasionally you catch an unnerving sound bite or sentence to illustrate the feel of the music. Segueing into Musavad, the ugliest, most chaotic song on the record, Matt almost seems to emulate Chino Moreno with his screams. It can be genuinely unsettling and nightmarish at times, fading on a powerful groove that almost leans into djent territory. It's not a one-dimensionally heavy song, and still plays with contrasting sections, but you definitely can sense Netherhall pushing their own boundaries with a suitably punishing result.

The white noise gradually evolves into the album's title track, which for me is the brightest song offered. There's a few dissonant sequences scattered in, preventing it from going too far in the opposite direction to what's come before, but the change in mood on the journey is fairly noticeable. I feel for this reason that it's one of the more memorable songs on display, particularly when it's been played live in the past and it dictates a shift in emotion. It's generally a more hopeful sounding number, though with some mystery and contemplation still lurking in the undercurrents. A brief Equilibrium - with some lovely guitar and bass interplay - then leads into pre-release single Disintegrate, home to killer grooves and a great guitar solo. The vocals in particular stand out on this track, bringing the song down wistfully as the music descends. As the wall of noise finally goes dead, it's as if all the volume is sucked out of the speakers with the first silence since the very start of Generate Pt. 1. A very satisfying sense of finality comes with it.

It's a hell of a journey.

Even though it's more intricate and detailed than older Netherhall material, they still wring a full range of emotion out of every phrase. It's apparent that they've also completely nailed their own style of music and writing, as even the songs I hadn't heard before from the full-length sound familiar. You could definitely say there's a lot of confidence within the music. The attention to detail is also commendable, with a well-considered track listing to control the ebb and flow of emotions in the listener. It might seem strange that the two lead singles are tracks seven and nine (out of nine), but in the context of the album it makes perfect sense - especially with what I've already said about Process following Musavad. I also admire how from start to end, there's no gaps in the music. Again, it's a journey.

As you can probably tell, I'm very well impressed. Polished, professional and powerful, the time put into creating Process is evident. They'll be at Techfest at the end of the month amongst other live dates. Join the party and let them lead you on an exploration.

9.5/10

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MN