Sound: Nomy (Patrick Marquardt), is a Swedish musician who creates all of his music using a guitar and a computer. "By The Edge Of God", his sixth studio album is the latest of his releases.
The Track-Listing:
01. Die Maggots Die
02. By The Edge Of God
03. Level 1
04. You And Me
05. Radio Trash
06. Radio Clean
07. Gold Digger
08. Straight Ahead
09. Been Trying For You
10. One Last Song
11. I Can Take It Slow
Genre-wise, the album is versatile, spreading itself widely across the rock spectrum, with opening track "Die Maggots Die" and "Level One" very much coming from the more hardcore side of things, and then songs like "Radio Clean" and "I Can Take It Slow" having an almost poppy sound. (In fact, Nomy purposefully uses a teenage pop-star style of singing for parts of "Radio Clean").
Nomy is obviously a competent guitarist, but it is his keyboard skills that shine on the album, with the opening of "Straight Ahead" being a joyful, almost old-school videogame-esque riff that leads into a defiant anthem. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: Nomy's voice is clearly his most powerful weapon, and he certainly knows it. Able to fly into almost Sebastian Bach like screams without notice, he displays his vocal range across the album using vocal styles ranging from a black metal styled screech to a more gentle clean vocal style.
He is a vocalist that aims to showcase his feelings through his words, therefore relying on his voice rather than his instrumental skills to get the messages of his songs across to the listener. This is more apparent than ever on "Been Trying For You", where during the first half of the song, Nomy employs a low-key style of singing, before launching into a full-blown wail of desperation in the song's climax.
However, it is in the lyrics where Nomy can slip. His English is sometimes a little off, which can have a jarring effect when a mistake distracts the listener from the song at hand. Even without the forgivable errors, his serious lyrics never really manage to feel serious. His comedic lyrics, on the other hand, are wonderfully insane, with this section of "Level One" (a song focusing on online video gaming) never failing to raise a smile from me.
"I'm calling my friend because he's fat and alone
You're using Skype instead of the phone
He's at level 80 and epic like hell
I’m all out of spells"
I'm sure Bob Dylan would be proud. // 7
Impression: "By The Edge Of God" is a fun album at its heart. Whether you're looking for something loud, or just something with a general sense of humour this is certainly an album worth adding to your collection. Musical fans that really pay attention to lyrics may find his writing at best lovably daft, and at worst juvenile.
Standout songs from the album are "Level One", "Straight Ahead" and "Been Trying For You". These are also probably the three best songs to listen to in order to get a feel for the album, as they showcase a range of the styles offered by it.
Personally, Nomy's vocal performance is what keeps me coming back to "By The Edge Of God". The negative aspect of it is, as I've already mentioned, his occasional lapse in English. When listening to music, I tend to get lost in songs, and I find that these errors can distract from the music itself. Perhaps I'm being unfair, as his English is much better than my Swedish will ever be.
If the album were lost, I would certainly buy it again. Offered on his website (www.nomy.nu - it's in English), for a mere €10, it is also available to listen to in its entirety on Spotify, with snippets available on his website.
In conclusion, Nomy has an abundance of talent, and at the young age of 28, he certainly has a bright future in music. "By The Edge Of God" is a fine step towards making himself known on a wider scale. // 8
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