TIDES FROM NEBULA

strong, consistent progression for Tides From Nebula, their latest titled "From Voodoo To Zen" is a healthy mash of the typical walls of sound that this genre is famous for, interesting and inspired riffage and a bit of psychedelia. standout parts for me are: - The New Delta: at 2:40 the riff falls away into a pulsing, hypnotic, almost techno-like beat with the riff crashing back in about a minute later. - Ghost Horses: drawn out, haunting intro - like Pink Floyd on acid...plus, what a "shuffle beat" kicking in at 2:20 - Nothing To Fear And Nothing To Doubt: at just over 8 minutes, the longest song on this record holds your attention through many twists and turns... - Eve White, Eve Black, Jane: intriguing title (would love to hear the back story) starts slowly with an electronic wall of synth, building in to more hard-hitting, fantastic drum work. a special call out to the drummer Tomas Stołowski for creating some outstanding "drum riffs" way better than most of their previous work and heading in a more interesting and unique direction - look forward to TFN's next.

Tides From Nebula are an instrumental post rock progressive Polish quartet, comprising Adam Waleszyński (guitar), Maciej Karbowski (guitar, keyboards, piano), Przemysław Węgłowski (bass) and Tomasz Stołowski (drums). Released in 2016, this was their fourth full- length studio album, and shows a band as much influenced by Muse as much as they have been by Tool, and even Jean Michel Jarre and Kraftwerk. That's not to say that there are swathes of endless snyth layers, but rather that musically they come across with many broad repeated strokes of the musical palette as opposed to anything that is sharp, vibrant and staccato.

The result is an album which in many ways quite dreamy, taking the listener away into a more reflective world, but the main issue is the lack of dynamics within, which means that after a short while the listener starts to become quite bored with music which seems to be all working at exactly the same level. It's not that there is anything inherently bad with what they are doing, just that one wishes for a bit more life within it. Krautrock for a modern age? Maybe, but while there is definitely a place for this style, and it is well played, it's just not for me.

The post-rock/metal scene of the style that Tides from Nebula play seems nowadays overly saturated, to the point where you can not distinguish between bands - a large number of which appear to be following exactly the same recipes and cliches in their search to produce a "post" metal or rock album.

This is the third release from the Polish post metallers and my first acquaintance with the band. Compared to the "typical" post-metal bands or pioneers of the genre (see Isis, Pelican) Tides from Nebula take on a much more post-rock approach to their style, with low tempos and numerous clean guitar passages. The textures are not untypical of the post-rock methodology whereby melodic riffs build up to a heavy climax, fade back and the cycle is repeated. The album starts off quite interestingly with a Maiden-esque riff on 'Laughter of Gods' (cf. Moonchild) and the relative variation in the first half is depicted in 'Satori' with eastern sounds and the dynamic closing of 'Emptiness of Yours and Mine'. Delay loops on the guitars are characteristic of the sound, which relies more upon the atmospheric/melodic atmospheres and less on heavy riffing and tempo changes.

Although not a bad album per se, the majority of the record surrenders itself in cliches and repetitiveness (another characteristic of post-rock/metal bands these days), which results in a feeling of relative boredom and a thought of "I have surely heard this before". If this album stood in isolation, maybe we would be talking for an interesting release. As it stands, this might appeal to the devoted fans of the style or could act as a sample of the scene for newcomers.

2.5 stars. Thanks to Jon Freeman for providing a promo.

Instrumental albums often receive quite a bit of flack for lacking in emotion or even meaning. I have to say that I often agree with this sentiment, yet I do not think Tides from Nebula's compositions fall into this dreary description. The guys are soon releasing their next album called "Eternal Movement", and I feel that they have expertly titled this release with the word "movement", as this is a very adept description for this album.

Tides from Nebula is a post-metal band, though I'd say that they exhibit post-rock tendencies more readily. They are somewhat similar to If These Trees Could Talk, or maybe vice versa. Either way, Tides from Nebula features a great mixture of post-rock ambiance, mood, and atmosphere plus the technical fireworks reserved for the metal genres. I find that this combination creates music that is moody and meaningful, but not boring.

So, these guys certainly know how to play. Their music is almost fragile in a way, as the high- tuned guitars that they use play vulnerable, soulful leads and solos that weave in and out of the other instruments. The atmosphere soars and is very light., unlike with other post-metal bands that usually have dense, asthmatic atmospheres. On top of this, an impressive rhythm section provides the perfect foundation for the emotional guitar noodling. Awesome, powerful drumming combines with crisp bass work, and in the end supplements the delicious lead guitar. Light, airy, and very controlled; the music moves along at break-neck pace, but still provides a certain serenity and peacefulness. It creates a mood in your mind wherein you just let the music flow. You just let it move through you. Yes, movement is a perfect title. It fluxes. It waxes and wanes. It flows like liquid tranquility. It reaches those dormant parts of your brain, and washes them clean.

For my money, "Hollow Lights" and "Up From Eden" are the best tracks here. "Hollow Lights" has a certain driving rhythm that mixes so well with the ascending guitar work. It's addictive. "Up From Eden", however, feels like a lament that calls to our hearts. Overall, I'm very impressive with this outing from Tides from Nebula, and I highly recommend it to anyone that loves instrumental, emotional music.

I won't say I'm excited by TIDES FROM NEBULA debut, but Epignosis' review a bit too negative, I think. On the other hand, this is what popular trends in the genre do with those who aren't genre's devotees ;)

TIDES FROM NEBULA, as almost any Post-Rock band nowadays, plays heavy guitar-driven Post-Rock with obvious TOOL and PELICAN influences. Now, when 90% of those who was reading this review walked away, I can continue, he-he. There's not much to say about TFN debut really, they perfectly fit in the pigeonhole I've served for them one sentence before, but this is when a taste matter comes out of shadow. I mean I didn't much like what IREPRESS did on their last effort (for example), but I liked TIDES FROM NEBULA's tracks, hence 2 stars I usually give for such material turn into 3, maybe even 3 and a half. The Rule of Checking The MySpace First must work for any Post-Rock band nowadays, and TFN aren't an exception. Decide for yourself then!

Tides from Nebula is a Polish instrumental post rock band, using their guitars to paint music in broad strokes. While this crew is far from talentless, the compositions themselves are downright amateurish, from recycled vi-V-IV chord progressions to lengthy blitzes of distorted guitar. Everything about this album, frankly, is riddled with cliché. Were Scott Stapp along for the ride, this could really be popular rock band only slightly more complex than Creed.

"Shall We?" Lengthy feedback-like notes set the tone for this piece, as more conventional semi-clean electric guitar, easy drums, and generic bass enter. This is very much a traditional hard rock track with a steady build, by which I mean that this piece sounds very similar to the likes of Creed or Fuel, but takes quite some time in developing the arrangement through layers of guitars.

"Sleepmonster" Dull and heavy, there's some light parts, but mostly the second, five-minute piece is a nondescript wall of rhythm guitar-based rock.

"Higgs Boson" This track begins on the lighter side, with bright guitar, but then quickly flees back to the heavy wash of distortion. Fortunately, the band doesn't stay there long, and intelligently brings back the gentler segment, which, if I didn't know better, I would have confidently said I was listening to modern-day Porcupine Tree. To my surprise, the band takes things in an even more minimalistic fashion, before bringing on the crashing guitars once more.

"Svalbard" Ultimately a throwaway track, this is just a noise-ridden interlude of some manner.

"Tragedy Of Joseph Merrick" The bass is outstanding on this very interesting track, which involves a carefully woven tapestry of multiple (and slightly out of tune) clean guitars of mildly varying effects. Instead of merely creating a barrage of noisy distortion, the band shows more technical prowess in firing off a volley of static runs.

"Purr" After a somewhat high-pitched and noisy introduction, the band plays a very pleasing yet completely formulaic chord progression, during which they sound just like Lifehouse (I could even hear Jason Wade singing in my head). There's a bombardment of distortion later, although the chord progression changes up just a bit. Toward the end, there's a high-pitched, screeching noise that is just unimaginably irritating.

"It Takes More Than One Kind Of Telescope To See The Light" The opening to this track follows the same formulaic chord progression from the previous track. The beginning sounds like "Pardon Me" by Incubus (just add turntables!), and then there's the obligatory onslaught of guitars.

"When There Were No Connections" There are some exceptional but short riffs, but at this point, it's all more of the same- heavy drudgery, nothing remarkable. The "lead" guitar consists of one note per every four measures (or just one note for sixteen bars the second time around), which doesn't make for very interesting listening.

"Apricot" Even if the band is trapped in the same chord progression, they inject some desperately needed variety in terms of textures and sound, particularly thanks to the bassist. At five and a quarter minutes, the music completely stops for the added cliché of moments of silence before a "hidden" track, which consists of one minute of a distorted electric piano riff. That, I call pointless.