What's this? A gothic-metal band with blackened influences hailing from the United States? A refugee from the Massachusetts-based Dark Symphonies label, Nicodemus signed with Greece's Sonic Age Records for the release of its third album, Vanity Is A Virtue, and is intentionally targeting a European audience. That's too bad, because America's underground metal scene just might dig this band's melancholy mix of Dream Theater, Rush, Opeth and Theatre of Tragedy. On Vanity Is A Virtue, vocalist, bassist and keyboard player Christopher Morris sings in a clean voice more often than he does a dirty one, and the band makes unexpected left turns into melodic, atmospheric territory on songs like "Pyramidion" and the instrumental workout "A Metaphysical Theory of Dynamics." (With titles like those, it's a good thing no one said this album is an easy listen, although it's certainly more accessible than, say, a typical Opeth or ToT album.) With only seven tracks, each clocking in at longer than six minutes, Vanity Is A Virtue doesn't waste its 52 minutes with filler - although some tracks are bound to appeal to certain listeners more than others. All in all, this is a well-rounded, moody metal album that borrows just enough from different subgenres to make it impossible to pigeonhole.
Track Listing:
1) Benighted
2) Next in Nocturne
3) Negative Ions
4) Pyramidion
5) A Metaphysical Theory of Dynamics
6) Reason & Relapse
7) … And It Becomes
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