Personally I am of the opinion that it is not AI, and I’ll explain my reasons. However, some rando on Facebook was practically seething to try to “prove me wrong” (though, the evidence he gave was pretty weak). I’ll be sad to hear if they are AI though, since I’ve grown to really enjoy their weird style of music.
Why I don’t think it’s AI:
- They are doing live shows (I believe on tour?). Doesn’t 100% guarantee the music is not AI, however their music is obviously performable on some level whereas with definitely AI-generated music it’s a little unbelievable
- Their social media content and music videos are pretty weird and clunky, but in an early YouTube editing kind of way. AI music videos I’ve seen tend to try to look more “clean” (while having very obvious artifacts, because AI is actually very stupid). Netherwilds’ music videos are fairly raw imo, like a low budget film.
- The frontman, David Monks, has been making music for over two decades. He was part of Tokyo Police Club, which was a fairly popular indie band back in the early 2000s. While the style between the two bands is definitely different, some of the general cadences and instruments are similar.
- They’ve expressed that they haven’t used AI in their content. I know this is me being very trusting of their word, but they’ve also made stands for other issues so I’m more inclined to believe it. I’ve noticed a lot more smaller bands making their stances on things very known.
Now, here’s why they might be AI:
- According to the FB Keyboard Warrior, NW’s song “The Fall” has the same melody as some random AI-generated song. I listened to it and, at best, it had a similar medieval metal vibe but definitely not the same song. Besides, AI songs I’ve heard have a distinct “tinny” sound to it (if that’s the right descriptor?)
- Their cover artwork had me doing double takes, I will admit. But, did some digging into the artists behind it and they seem legit with a consistent style.
- They’ve got some questionable lyrics. Though, I think that’s the point with it being a kind of niche theme. It’s more just campy imo.
Those are my thoughts on it, though I’m way better at figuring out images than music. I could totally be wrong! Would love to hear other people’s thoughts!
A link to their YouTube channel, to listen for yourself: https://youtube.com/@netherwilds?si=34xbSEA5yFO_n7ri