Nilamox/SevCom Annual Report for 2021

I’ve made these online annual reports since 2008. They’re snapshots of mountains that fade away after a year or so, revealing new mountains behind.
In 2010 Blu-Ray came and went… from 2015 tours of Europe and North America were a success. 2016 – 3D video wasn’t a win, nor was V.R. (although they are back as meta-something or other) while here in 2021 our vinyl lingers in ever more limited and more expensive re-issues.
One of the latest mountains is of course … Nilamox.

Nilamox was launched to refresh the art, bring new identity, new material – just like Terse Tapes in 1980, Dogfood Production System in 1981 and then SevCom in 1988. Name changes are nothing new.

Nilamox was the right decision despite an apparent lack of interest. The SevCom fan dogs salivate when they hear the bell (I’m dropping in an old D.P.S. slogan here) but aren’t going past the recognition phase. They will respond with cultural references like ‘haha dead eyes greater all saints etc.’ to just about anything I say but remain disengaged. Nilamox reveals the actual level of engagement without the cloud of saliva. But I must accept that nilamox has been a mountain just as much as Blu-Ray and touring, entirely worthy but at the mercy of greater external forces. Stripping off a false layer of engagement has not meant converting it into true action. A change of plan must be made The goal should not be to leave behind the lazy listeners, but to encourage them to be less lazy.

The Dead Hand of History

How? Fortunately the whole discussion is documented on this blog and I can go argue with myself about the difference between music and mnemonic. I have hoped for a complete break, to level up to higher quality artworks. COVID and the collapse of the mail system are some of the things that stumped that, but whatever the reasons the leap has become too hard and we must find a new balance between SevCom past and nilamox future to survive and grow.

A while back I said of Severed Heads: “Our goal … was to cross over to major festivals, galleries, high-end creative events. There’s been some excellent occasions … but not consistent enough to prove that objective will be met.  We may assemble the band temporarily only when a high-level or artistically significant event is available.”

I also said that “people above a certain age are trapped in their history … by engaging with ‘albums’ at all I’m back with an audience that stopped listening to new things years ago. Nilamox must now start the more risky and challenging work that was the intention. Reciprocally, the Sevcom shop and museum must be better employed.”

This has become the reality, by planning or not. SevCom should remain active, but only in an artistically significant context. Nilamox continues to strive for new forms and formats. Severed Heads is dead, but can be invoked in a significant process I’ll call a séance, a ceremony with rules and conditions. I will confirm that some séances are already in discussion.

In Summary

• The brand identity will become nilamox/sevcom – a combination of future and past. The presence (web etc.) will follow this realignment. This is less pure, but reality bites.
• Severed Heads can be evoked by a séance, which has rules and conditions. i.e. no normal tours or shows. Again, it’s a disappointment but it might just help the future survive.