Before the wonderful "spaghetti western" image/sound that permeated the Neffs early output, there was the self-released 1985 e.p. Burning the Fields. If you've never heard this release, it may surprise you for several reasons. The first being how raw and young vocalist Carl McCoy sounded at the time. Yes, there are those Andrew Eldritch type warbles in abundance especially during the wondrous Trees Come Down; (which has been reinvented twice since this original release. My favorite being the live version the band performed throughout 1987-early 1989). The drama in Carl's voice is very much evident, something that wouldn't return in a much more mature form until the glorious Last Exit for the Lost. It's during Trees... that we see the first hints of glory on the horizon. The musicians are surprisingly tight, as if they'd been playing together for more than the two years FotN had been around at that point. The early attempts at the smashing mix of melodic, catchy riffs laced with the menace that would dominate later recordings drifts in and out of the mix. I was skeptical about these early works because until '85 the band had a saxophone player in their midst, which just didn't work imo. While Burning the Fields is good, the second e.p. initially released in Italy, 1986's Returning to Gehenna is far superior. These songs made up the subsequent Power e.p., revealing the new direction of spaghetti western/Motorhead grit the band were experimenting with. This also features the one track with Gary Whisker's saxophone; The Tower-which is tough going mainly because of the out-of-place instrument. A note to completists; both of these e.p.s are packaged on one CD from Jungle Records as From Gehenna to Here.

On the strength of their growing live performances, Beggar's Banquet snapped up Fields of the Nephilim for their offshoot label, Situation Two. The line up from here-on-in was: Carl McCoy- vocals (and keyboards in the studio), Tony Pettitt-bass, Nod Wright-Drums, his brother Paul Wright and Peter Yates on guitar.