NeBeLNeST are one of the most adventurous and energetic young bands to emerge on the international post-rock / avant-progressive scene in recent years. This young French band is noted for its dark symphonic rock, influenced by King Crimson, Shylock, Pink Floyd and Univers Zero / Present, laced with psychedelia and improvisation, and played with a riveting level of energy and intensity derived from the hardcore and noise scenes. In the words of the Chicago Tribune: "these French sound sculptors chisel out large-scale instrumentals that pair up the weird sonics and improvisational bent of mid-period King Crimson with a Gong-like space fusion ambiance " [They] borrow bits and pieces of old school art rock and arrange them into a singular sound awash in dissonance and strangely mutated guitar/keyboard tones."
NeBeLNeST was formed in May 1997 as an instrumental quartet consisting of brothers Olivier and Grégory Tejedor (keyboards / bass); Cyril Malderez (guitar); and Michaël Anselmi (drums). Three of the members -- the Tejedors and Malderez -- had formerly played together in the hardcore band Chemistry, while the fourth, Anselmi, came from a background in the noise / rave band Ventrilock.
The band's first album, the self-titled NeBeLNeST, came out in 1999 on Laser's Edge. German webzine Through Different Eyes said that the CD projected the band "to the top league of the instrumental acts, a great debut album." Press worldwide praised it as a remarkable debut. Exposé remarked: "Rare it is, the debut of classic caliber. This one is the real deal, folks. Devastating." In 1999, NeBeLNeST performed at two progressive music festivals, Festival Off (Corbigny, France) and ProgDay (Chapel hill, USA); toured the U.S. (Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore); and played in Paris and at Belgium's Spirit of 66. The band remained active on the French concert circuit in 2000, while also beginning work on several new recording projects.
NeBeLNeST's 2nd album, NoVa eXPReSS, was released by Cuneiform in 2002. Produced by Bob Drake (who produced CDs by 5uu's and Thinking Plague), critics agreed that NoVa eXPReSS surpassed the band's blockbuster debut. Numerous writers proclaimed NoVa eXPReSS one of 2002's best CDs, using superlatives like "magnificent", "majestic", and "tremendous" to describe it, and rating it 8 or 9 out of 10. Gibraltar Encyclopedia called the CD "Dense, dark and urgent. Take Red-era King Crimson, the frantic anger of punk rock, and a sophisticated French sensibility, and you get a feel for this powerful band."
Following the release of NoVa eXPReSS, NeBeLNeST began recording new material. But before an album was completed, Malderez left the band. Sébastien Carmona became NeBeLNeST's new guitarist. In June 2003, the new lineup performed at Les Tritonales, a progressive music festival outside Paris. NeBeLNeST then resumed work on its album. In the band's words: "Quickly, catalyzed by the presence of a new member we started to create some new compositions. We decided to keep some tracks which were recorded with Cyril and to record some new ones with Sébastien."
ZePTO, NeBeLNeST's 3rd CD and 2nd release on Cuneiform, grew out of the band's work with both guitarists. Compiled over a period of several years, ZePTO encompasses and bridges the work of two different lineups. It features longtime NeBeLNeST members Anselmi (drums) and the Tejedor brothers, Grégory (bass) and Olivier (keyboards); the band's first and second guitarists, Malderez and Carmona; and contributions by guest artist Vincent Boukefa on clarinet. NeBeLNeST desired to maintain total control over all aspects of production, and thus composed, recorded and produced the CD itself. This enabled the band to use a new working method: it completed one track at a time in the studio, taking whatever time was necessary to achieve the desired result; some tracks took 4-5 months to complete. In their words: "This way of working has put some heterogeneity in the sound of the ZePTO album and we do like that! Each track represents a part of the last 3 years of [the] NeBeLNeST story." Over the course of ZePTO's creation, the band saw that their music "evolved to something more experimental. This was the desire of the band since the beginning." ZePTO reveals NeBeLNeST's "dense, dark and urgent" post-Crimson sound grown slightly edgier through the use of electronic processing, noise and found sound. In NeBeLNeST's words: "ZePTO is for us the album so far, which best expresses the true identity of NeBeLNeST."
Dynamic live performers, NeBeLNeST have recently received requests to play at several high-profile festivals of progressive music. In summer 2006, they made their second appearance at Paris' Les Tritonales, one of their first shows with new guitarist, Matthieu Sassier, who replaced Carmona. The band is also scheduled to play at the Rock In Opposition festival in Le Garric (Carmaux) France in April 2007 and at NEARfest 2007, Bethlehem - PA, USA in June 2007. Besides ZePTO, NeBeLNeST's other recent projects include participating in Hamtäi! (Welcome Records), a tribute album dedicated to Christian Vander, head of the legendary band Magma.
