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Wednesday 30 June 2021

Reviews: Felled, Pestilence, Glimt, March In Arms (Reviews By Paul Scoble, Paul Hutchings, Ethan Reed-Spargo & Megan Jenkins)

Felled - The Intimate Earth (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Paul Scoble]

Felled have been in existence since 2014, although the origins of Felled go back before 2014 to 2010 and a band called Moss Of Midnight. The band is made up of Jenn Grunigen on Drums and Vocals, Cavan Wagner on Guitar and Vocals, Isamu Sato on Bass and Brighid Wagner on Violin and Viola. In the 7 years that Felled have been together the only other recording the band have made is a demo called Bonfire Grit in 2017, The Intimate Earth is Felled’s debut album. Felled’s style of music is a mix of Folk and Black Metal, they never seem to stay in one particular style preferring to have one foot in each camp, Felled clearly have their own sound; not Black or Folk, just Felled. The band do sound unique, the use of Viola as well as Violin makes them sound different from other Folk Metal bands, this isn’t fun, uptempo jigs, this is folk of a far darker strain. 

The Folk of Felled is far more Post industrial revolution Folk, than something from an imaginary pre-industrial revolution ‘Shire’ Folk. The lower register Viola gives the music a darker, baser sound, there are several areas where the Violin and Viola are layered, giving the music a lush feel that has weight to it. The tone of the Classical/Folk instruments is very good as well, deep and dark, a sound that is similar to how Dawn Ray’d use the Violin, or to early Skyclad (the originators of Folk Metal). The album opens with Ember Dream, which has a slow opening that is dark and heavy, the track then goes into a blasting section before settling down to be a mid-paced piece of Violin and Viola Folk Metal. The vocals are harsh and nasty throughout the song which has a great driving and purposeful feel to it. All through the song the Violin and Viola are the dominant instruments, the ‘Metal’ side of Felled’s sound is the background, the Classical instruments are taking the lead. 

Next up is the track Fire Season On The Outer Rim, which has a busy and complex introduction before a slower and simpler verse section that feels fervent, dramatic and deeply melodic. The track has a fast and urgent section before the slower verse returns this time with beautiful clean vocals, the track then builds back up before a quiet and deeply melancholic ending. The Rite Of Passage continues the melancholia from the previous song. The song is slow and achingly sad, with a dark feeling, the tempo is slow but with a driving and relentless quality to it. The song features beautiful layered Violins and Violas, that are deeply sorrowful, the feeling of The Rite Of Passage is bordering on Depressive Black Metal in how bleak and melancholic it is. Sphagnum In The Hinterlands is much faster than the track that preceded it, the song also has the Guitars further forward in the mix, and on a couple of occasions the guitar takes the lead melodic role. For most of its length the song is driving and dramatic, it has a section that feels a little closer to Bluegrass, giving the track a little similarity to Panopticon. The song takes a turn towards the a darker and more brooding sense for a very slow and heavy ending. 

Final track The Salt Binding, is a softer and more ballad like track. That Depressive Black Metal feeling is back, backed up with some lush layered tremolo picked riffs and some really beautiful clean vocals, and a mournful Guitar melody. As the track develops it does get a little bit more driving and purposeful, with some harsh vocals. The song has a very soft and slow ending featuring some gentle chanting that is achingly beautiful. The Intimate Earth is a stunning album. I would urge anyone who likes Folk Metal or Black Metal to have a listen as this is a brilliantly original album. The Violin and Viola taking nearly all of the melodic and tuneful elements gives this a truly original sound. The album has been realised very well as well; it’s no good having great original ideas if they can’t be realised, so this is both a creative and a practical achievement. 

When I first did my research on Felled I was going to make snarky comments about how long they have taken over getting an album out, but after hearing Felled’s debut I can see that they have spent the time very well, creating something that is both innovative and exquisitely accomplished. The melodic aspects of this album are what stay with you, I have been humming all the tunes from this album since I first started listening to it, it gets into your head and it stays there, I’m not complaining though, its a wonderful album to have going round and round your mind. 9/10

Pestilence – Exitivm (Agonia Records) [Paul Hutchings]

It’s been an eventful three years for Pestilence or should that be guitarist/vocalist Patrick Mameli. The release of their first album in five years, Hadeon was soured by a clash with Metalsucks website, allegations of racism and Nazism (totally denied by Mameli) and the cancellation of their US tour as a result. 2019 saw the band shed all members apart from Mameli and subsequently, this ninth record from the Dutch death metal legends once again features a changed line-up. 

In come former Dew Scented and Creepmime Joost Van der Graaf on bass, Bleeding Gods Rutger van Noordenburg on lead guitar and drummer Michiel van der Pilcht (God Dethroned). Noted as one of the big four of technical death metal (alongside Death, Atheist and Cynic), Pestilence have once more shrugged off the challenges of an all-new band and demonstrated that far from being a novelty, they can still produce the goods in dramatic fashion.

Exitivm (meaning Destruction in Latin) is bookended by sonic instrumentals. In Omnibvs – Intro provides a technical, sci-fi flavour, buffeting background noise and soaring synths pave the way for Morbvs Propagationem, which explodes in a maelstrom of frantic riffs and Mameli’s guttural roars. Unsurprisingly pacy, the sound is as intricate and complex as anticipated, with crisp lead guitar bursts and subtle layered keyboards. It’s technical, ferocious, and brutal.

There’s little bloat. The excess fat has been trimmed away, leaving a lean, powerful animal which wastes little time. At 38 minutes running time it doesn’t overstay its welcome, most of the tracks hammering home in under four-minute blasts. The tracks feature massive blast beats and Pestilence’s trademark discordant, angular compositions. The production is crisp, and the science fiction feel that links the songs works well. A degree of dramatic licence provides a fluid link between tracks, such as the change between Sempiternvs and Internicionem

Exitivm should excite old school fans and new blood alike. Tracks like Morifervm with its haunting intro and explosive battery of riffs will raise a nod from fans of classic album Testimony Of The Ancients. There’s ample contained within this slab of sheer technical brutality for all. It’s a worthy record to add to the legacy. 9/10

Glimt - Glimt (Self Released) [Ethan Reed-Spargo]

Where to begin? To say this album is phenomenal would be a colossal understatement. Glimt are a newly formed atmospheric black metal band who hail from the homeland of black metal itself and entwine the very beauty of their homeland into their music and perhaps have released one of the most beautiful albums of the atmospheric genre. This album had me gripped throughout the entire album with its melodies, ferocity and you can literally feel the outpour emotion and feelings from the members in their playing, this is no cheap/generic knock off of atmospheric metal, this is music played straight from the heart!

What you'll notice from the get-go of this album is how clean and precise the mix is and this is because it was mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley at The Atomic Garden who has mixed for bands such as Deafheaven. I'll go so far as to say the album had a feeling of ''familiarity'' and of ''home'' and strikes in me what many Welsh people know as the ''Hiraeth'' and pulls you straight into the music and feels you with yearning and other times with pure bliss.

The album is just over 38 minutes long with five different songs and a lush acoustic transition piece. Each one of the songs on this album is very distinct from one another and is in perfect order and just lets the songs move from one to another with ease. The album gets off to a flying start and opens with the song Nokkerose which doesn't hold back, it starts with an intense riff which is quickly joined by the accompanying instruments which delivers what this song is all about; intensity and rich beautiful melodies delivered from the guitarists Roald and Espen and for this entire song Kristoffen doesn't let his foot off the pedal(s) and delivers perfect timing and ferocity behind the kit with an assortment of blast beats and double bass attacks which just adds to the guitars and tortured vocals in delivering that ''familiar'' sound I spoke about.

The album then moves onto the transition piece, Breathe to move us from this intense song to something more mellow and full of yearning before then moving onto the second song dubbed Blossom, which is a far more relaxed song with some intricate work on the drums, which goes from soft and complex ghost note patterns on the snare to blisteringly fast double bass and blasts like a hot knife through butter, but all the while during this song Kristoffen and Stian work together in harmony to deliver some stunning passages, with bassist Stian weaving his bass lines around the drum parts in delivering a fundamental part of the song and album in general.

Moving on into the third song called Daydream which, for lack of a better word, is a very happy sounding song, it gave me the feeling as though I was out walking with a close friend on a warm summer day, the song is a very relaxed one to listen to and lets you put your feet up whilst you recover from the intensity from the first two songs of the album. We then move onto the fourth song of the album Nostalgic Gloom which is the longest song off of the album at over 10 minutes long, although it doesn't feel this way! 

The song doesn't drag on and just keeps on evolving and spiralling in all sorts of directions and captures your imagination for the entire song. It starts off slow and sombre and slowly builds up momentum until they deliver a full out assault. During this entire song there is an awesome display of vocal abilities from both Kristoffen and Roald, with both clean vocals and screams present throughout the song which really help push the song along and further capture the feelings they wished to convey through this song.

Finally, we move onto the fifth and final song of the album Glimt This is a perfect song in which to conclude the album with and leaves the album feeling complete, it's a song that delivers the sense of longing and sadness this album can represent at times. This album is just simply stunning and probably the best release this year in the atmospheric genre, don't sleep on this album, go and check these guys out and keep your eye on them for future releases! 10/10

March In Arms – Pulse Of The Daring (RFL Records) [Megan Jenkins]

The opening words of March In Arms bio describes them as a group of ‘military-themed power metal aces’; a fact that instantly made me sceptical of what I was about to listen to. I was imagining Sabaton on a budget, or at least budget that doesn’t allow for main stage slots at Download Festival, but I can honestly say that their new album Pulse Of The Daring left me pleasantly surprised. Their influences include the ‘American classics’ like Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica, which comes through clearly on songs like Thunderbolt with its heavy double kick and thrashy, fast guitar riffs but I get a very heavy Dokken or Queensrÿche vibe from their overall sound.

The album opens with 1914, a song that begins with a groovy drum beat and is filled with chugging guitar riffs – very power metal and a solid start. Eight of the remaining nine tracks are very similar: Ryan Knutson's vocals cut cleanly through driving drumbeats and harmonic guitar riffs, making each sound like an instant 80s rock classic. Track number three, Welcome To The Blitz, is where this rule varies for me. Yes, there’s a driving drum beat and chugging guitar but the vocal melody in the chorus makes this song in particular stand out from the rest. It’s the sort of thing I can imagine being screamed by a crowd at a gig because it's just so anthemic and powerful.

I don’t know what I was really expecting from Pulse Of The Daring but what I got was an album that had me nodding my head along to every song and anthemic vocal hooks that have been stuck in my head for longer than I care to admit. An extremely pleasant surprise for this power metal novice. 7/10

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