Review by Aaron on July 15, 2005.

This album is the musical equivalent of black hole matter. With their first self-titled album, The Mighty Nimbus create nine tracks of an ungodly Sludge-Doom hybrid that gives the listener the sensation of a 900 lb gorilla with an excellent sense of groove putting both of it’s meaty paws down on their shoulders. From the first track “I’ll Never Weep” its apparent that the Minnesota-based group has something from the get-go that many bands spend many years and recordings to develop; An individualized sound that apparently draws upon many sources yet is beholden to none. You can get a room full of St Vitus, Down, Crowbar, Goatsnake, Black Label Society and Cathedral fans together listening to this monster and all of them will be saying “Hell Yeah” without being able to pinpoint what it reminds them of.

Seeing as The Mighty Nimbus includes members of bands such as Sixty Watt Shaman (a la Pete Champel) and Alabama Thunderpussy (a la Erik Larson), the heaviness should come not so much as a surprise but rather a heritage. These guys struck out to create a hard-hitting wrecking ball of sound and they did it. Erik Larson’s vocals are the roar of a whiskey fueled fire (“Broken Hoof” and “Raising the Mammoth” are excellent examples of this.) that maintains a great level of ferocity without becoming incomprensible. One of the great production traits of this album is how every instrument used, from the vocals to the drums, each pack an incredibly loud punch without shouting down each other. The only real complaint I have with the album is the fifth track “Fenrir”, a lovely acoustic guitar and piano piece. What’s my problem with it? Three things: 1) It’s lovely 2)It has acoustic guitar and 3) It has piano. None of these three things have any business being on this album. Sure it’s under two minutes long, but it’s long enough and divergent enough from the flow of the album to cause a noticeable burp in the continuity. If it’s meant to be the “sensitive song” that ensures that the band is able to land ass while on tour, fine, I admire such motives. Otherwise, it’s a stumbling block.

All in all, if you like your heaviness in large chunks you can’t get your hands around you need to buy this album. Low end lovers take note.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 9
Originality: 7
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.4 out of 10