Nic Nassuet is a singer/songwriter from Hollywood, and has just released his new gothic folk album, Eleutherios. There’s a strong air of 80’s gothic bands like Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy throughout the album, especially on songs backed with a fuller sound like “Down.” This injection of influences on even the quieter, folky songs like “The Nothing” and “Cross and Crown,” means he often veer towards the Neofolk genre, pioneered by the likes of Death In June and Current 93. But Nassuet lacks the true esotericism of these bands, so they end up sounding closer to the psychedelic and melancholy folk of Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley.
Backed with strings and *Catrina Grimm*on background vocals, they invariably end up sounding majorly baroque on ballads like “Immured.” It is on these moments, especially on the album closer “She Rides Moonlight,” that they’re at their greatest and even verge on true beauty. If only they leaned less on a gothic rock crutch and put more emphasis on the baroque and softer elements the album would be even stronger, but as it is there still some fine moments on this record. Eleutherios may be uneven at times, but when it tries to be Pink Moon instead of Floodland, there begins to be glimpses of something truly inspired that could only grow with time.
