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Nihilitia: Don’t be a Baby

Three band members, three skulls... wait a minute! Nope, no, it's gone now. Damn.The thing about Washington D.C. post-metal upstarts Nihilitia — aside from members Brad Sheppard (drums), Sara Hussain (vocals/bass) and Chris Thomas (guitar) each having a name I wouldn’t be surprised to see as an anchor on CNN (Anderson Cooper says, “We now go live to Chris Thomas with the story.” I know you can just hear it), and aside from every other letter in their name being ‘i,’ which I actually quite enjoy because it’s like one of those S.A.T. pattern tests — is that they sound a whole lot like Made Out of Babies. In the instance of their Keya Records debut, titled Nihilist Militia in case you didn’t get what they were going for with the name, recording with Joel Hamilton (Made Out of Babies, The Book of Knots) didn’t do much to distinguish them from the Brooklyn four-piece who, until now, have had a relative monopoly on female-fronted art metal. Or at least new school female-fronted art metal, one would be remiss to not mention Jarboe as the conceptual matriarch.

In any case, that’s not to say Nihilitia are completely unoriginal. Particularly in their slower movements, they settle, unafraid, into grooves all their own. Likewise, the versatility in Hussain‘s voice presents itself with less of the outright emotional turbulence associated with Made Out of Babies frontwoman Julie Christmas. Still, the one is the closest and most appropriate comparison for the other.

They look just like those skulls! (Photo by Shervin Lainez)Nihilitia are a young band, formed in 2006 (coincidentally the same year Made Out of Babies‘ second album, Coward, came out), so one hopes that with time they will grow into an identity more unique unto themselves. The potential to do so is clearly seen in the sub-Dillinger Escape Plan semi-tech riffs from Thomas and the occasional segment of raw doom. In the meantime, though, they’re more or less the District of Columbia‘s own Made Out of Babies.

And indeed, wouldn’t it be fun if MOoB set up franchises in major cities all around the country? MOoB Chicago could tour with MOoB Miami, and I don’t know much about anything, but nobody fucks with?MOoB Detroit and lives to tell the tale.

I’m kidding, of course. But if Nihilitia are looking to make a run of it, they’re going to need to find a way to distinguish themselves more than they’re doing on Nihilist Militia. There’s some capable soloing from Thomas on “Fortnight” and some genuinely cool fills from Sheppard early on, not to mention the slick groove of closer “Lightyear.” No need to default back to the sound of another band when your players are obviously talented enough players to come up with something more original.

I have no doubt this trio has it in them to create a sound all their own. Again, they’re young, and if you’ve read this review and taken away the idea that Nihilist Militia isn’t worth checking out, you’ve missed the point. All good-natured ribbing aside, Nihilitia have produced a musically diverse and engaging debut. Only trouble is it has me more wondering about the next one than wanting to listen to the band now.

Nihilitia on MySpace

Keya Records

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