Three years after his debut, Nathan P. Holly returns. 'The Suffering' received a lot of acclaim from many different origins. The acclaim from the doom metal community includes my own review (which can be read here) as well as the comment "it totally rocks" from Vito Marchese of Novembers Doom fame. With 'tHe drEameR' however, the focus is on melancholic ballads and while the mood can indeed be considered "doomy", the doom metal elements are absent this time.

Nathan himself categorizes this album as a "dark acoustic project" and as far as those three words go, it's a pretty decent deskription. I would probably call it deep blue rather than dark because of it's miserable tone but basically it still focuses on a balladic structure. 'tHe drEameR' mainly consists of an acoustic guitar, bass and the same clean, sad vocals as on 'The Suffering'. In addition, there are tiny hints of other instruments including piano, flute synth, violin synth and single chord playing on an electric guitar. These latter instruments are very subdued and only add a final touch to achieve the right feeling for the song. Those who find it annoying would only need to listen to the last six tracks which are acoustic versions of the first six tracks.

'tHe drEameR' is a concept album which is based on the contents of an eight verse poem that Nathan wrote. The main difference is that the well written poem concentrates on "The Sleeper's" point of view as he wanders in exploration through his inner dark side, while the lyrics based on the poem include a "she" and are more romantic in tone. While I don't have a clear answer as to what is really happening, my interpretation is that this "she" might have some similar function as with the lost love on 'The Suffering'. Her demise lives on in his mind and appears to him in his dreams, haunting him with grief until he finally faces his sorrow and puts her memory to rest. In simple sentences, Nathan none the less creates a very emotional tale that encourages one to listen to it as it's being told. The lyrics easily inspire one's own feelings.

Whether or not this new style is permanent is a good question. As he himself says: "My first project was originally supposed to be something similar to this but somehow lost it's way. So I decided to revisit that idea in order to more fully understand a part of music that I plan to make more integral in my future work." I'm pretty sure this means that we'll get more from both styles of Nathan's music in the future. It's also clear that even with a great debut, he's still improving and thus I believe we'll hear music with even more maturity in the future.

Nathan P. Holly is a modern bard who tells intimate stories of mourning. Those who find my deskription to be of interest should download this album here: http://www.NathanHolly.com, yes the first version is free. I find no reason what so ever not to recommend this album to just about any fan of sad music.

The Suffering
Self-Released – 2003

One-man band Nathan Holly hails from Wisconsin, and The Suffering is his 31-minute debut of Agalloch-like doom. In fact, “Endgame” is very similar to the softer side of the influential, Oregonian unit. Holly’s pipes parallel Haughm’s, too, but the everyman vocals are easily the weakest component of his repertoire. Though his vocal performance simply suffices, his guitar playing, drum programming, and overall songwriting excels. The leads near the end of “Desolate” are great, and even if the composition isn’t exactly utilitarian, there’s no self-indulgence to be found in this earnest piece of work. Warranting comparison to Agalloch yet again on “Am I Dreaming,” Holly briefly experiments more heavily with distortion and scattered growls, which adds some differentiation to an otherwise predictable approach. In short, it’s a nice addition. “In Death…” and “I Am Alone” are dark, tasteful numbers that bring the 6-track album to a close.

The Dreamer
Self-Released – 2007

One should note that the production has improved from what it was on The Suffering, though both albums are far from shoddy in said department. As a matter of fact, there’s no distinguishable difference between a home studio and professional studio in the case of Nathan Holly’s work. It’s also apparent that The Dreamer is tangible evidence of a boost of confidence for Holly, and opener “The Sleeper” displays a firm grip on songwriting as the tune has more depth than any of its predecessors – the use of piano/keyboards being an especially nice touch. Still, Holly would surely benefit from vocal lessons, even if the vocals are satisfactory here. In true Antimatter acoustic doom fashion, however, the remainder of The Dreamer plays out much like Planetary Confinement, mood-wise, in the dark “Wait for Me,” melancholy “Awake,” and optimistic “Farewell.” Gone completely is the distortion and growling, which is actually positive in this case since the acoustic theme works incredibly well. Following the full, 6-track recording is “a stripped down acoustic version,” to use his words, that is only available on the CD – as opposed to free download on his site. Similar to The Suffering, this one also features Holly’s hand-drawn artwork, and in communicating with him in order to set up these reviews, it’s noticeable that he cares for his art a great deal, which shows in every respect.

Between the two, I must admit that Dreamer is superior to Suffering in nearly every way, and that’s the one I’d actually recommend. So if you adore Antimatter’s Planetary Confinement and would like something in the same vein – minus strings and female vocals – then check out the former. Or, if you’ve got a spare $10 lying around, you can pick both of ‘em up. In any case, there’s pleasure to be gleaned from each, but his sophomore installment does trump his debut for what it’s worth.

By Jason Jordan

This CD has been an almost endless debate between me and myself. Is it doom metal or is it not? Sometimes the doom is very apparent. Other times it's really hard to tell because of the ballad structure that many of the tracks have. Ballad doom? Well, the description does kind of fit better than almost anything else I've come up with. I guess in the end this release simply defies any such genre descriptions. It's just too original. By the way, the cover of the album has a note that says "To prevent album artwork from fading, keep this CD out of the sunlight." Now if that's not a doom cover I don't know what is.

The man behind this CD, Nathan P. Holly, plays all the instruments himself and writes all the lyrics to boot. That is, except for the drums which, to my surpirise, were laid down by a drum machine. The reason that this came as a surprise is that it doesn't have the dull sound that drum machines tend to give off. It sounds 100% natural. All the music is actually home made on a 8-track recorder, but the mixing of the CD makes it sound like a professional mixer was hired to do it. A lot of studio recorded albums don't have this high quality. The clean vox (which constitute the main vocal style throughout) in particular sound very good indeed.

'The Suffering' has a lot of interesting things about it, especially the ballad sound from many of the tracks. Other tracks have a very clear doom/gothic sound to them and the last track even has a feeling of melodic doom/death at times. The influences are many and varied. Different parts of the music give you different feelings connected to different bands, Opeth, November's Doom, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Aarni being just a handful of them. I hear all of them in the music, but the end result doesn't give the impression of a clone release. In fact, it doesn't sound like anything else I've heard in my lifetime!

The album is in reality a story. It begins with the past. From chapter i - iii you'll find the tale of how a certain "she" vanished from his life and how he had tried to ease his pain. Apparently "she" was the lady that the person in the lyrics loved and lost. Then there is a turning point in chapter iv. The pain has in the end driven him to a dawning madness which escalates in chapter v. In chapter v he imagines her dying in his arms, and can't tell whether it is real or not. In the final chapter the end comes as he decides that it is the only way to end the suffering. But instead of finding relief he's just thrown into an eternal void, forever alone.

This is perhaps one of the most innovative releases I've heard in a long time. It sort of creates a genre of its own while still retaining its connections to similar genres. The CD is out for free here and I reccomend all fans of meldoic and romantic doom check this out.

Good ideas and bad execution is the plague that most reviewers endure when talking to home recorded releases, such is not the case with Nathan P. Holly. The talented young man manages to create some very interesting music with a minimum of means and a maximum of songwriting ability. Instead of causing himself any problems in complicating the arrangements he chooses to base most of the songs on an acoustic and a few electric guitars, a bass (sometimes) and simple programmed drums. I am usually very wary of drum machines/drum programming in this type of music but here I don’t mind as they are kept to a strict minimum and do not take anything from the rest of the music. Clearly influenced by the more depressing genres, the music navigates between Doom, Nick Cave and mid-era Swans with great ability. Nothing here is particularly groundbreaking, but it surely is effective. Good vocalists are probably the most difficult thing to find, Nathan does not have that problem, with a solid singing voice (even if his range is limited, he stays within his boundaries, and I see his voice getting better with time) and a Dan Swano-like growl in the few occasions that he actually uses it. The music begs for more diverse arrangements and given the means and the opportunity it would not only make it better but spectacular. One of the better self-released music I have heard, definitely a name to keep in mind.