The Nephilim is the second studio album by Fields of the Nephilim, released in September 1988 by Situation Two/Beggars Banquet Records.[4] The record debuted at number 12 in the UK album charts.[5][6]
The album was recorded in The Justice Rooms, a former courthouse in England's Somerset countryside where defendants who were sentenced to death were hanged on site. “The place had a really cool vibe” recalls bassist Tony Pettitt.[7]The Nephilim’s opening track, "Endemoniada", shares its name with a 1968 Mexican horror film and features a man growling “Penitenziagite!”, sampled from Ron Perlman's hunchback character, Salvatore, in The Name of the Rose.[7] The album's top-charting single, "Moonchild", shares its name with Aleister Crowley'snovel, while "Love Under Will" is a phrase from Crowley's Book of the Law.[7] The lyrics for "The Watchman" and "Last Exit for the Lost" reference H. P. Lovecraft's character Cthulhu.[7]
The third track "Phobia" is stylistically similar to Motörhead's hit song "Ace of Spades" including near identical guitar riffs.
The track "Shiva", originally the b-side of "Moonchild" single, is included only on the CD version of the album and not on the original LP release.
