...Okay I may have lied.

In my review of Saidan's Fangdriller: Scars Beneath Memory's Wrist, I said something along the lines of "black metal has been in a rough patch lately where I have nothing to look forward to." And I still stand by that statement, however there was one upcoming released that I totally overlooked: the new (double) album by British atmo-black group Fen, Elemental.

Fen has been at the top of my list of black metal groups for almost a decade. Their songwriting prowess is elite and they are able to make it work over such a smoky texture as this. Their newest album, Mourning Earth is the first of two albums in the Elemental series and if this first half is any indication, Fen have stepped up their writing chops here!

The bands previous two albums: The Dead Light and Monuments to Absence felt like they lost some of Fen's most pronounced features through their previous output. Songs were shorter and they took on a more progressive approach rather than crushing the listener with despair seemingly forever. With Mourning Earth, the songs get shorter again, but the dynamic approach has been restored. A song like "Massif" has a constant crescendo that leaves you begging for the release and when it does, it hits hard. And it also helps to prepare for later on in the record, such as when the thrashier riffing takes over during "Barrow".

It's hard to say at this moment in time, but Mourning Earth makes for a great addition to Fen's discography. But with it being the first half of a double album, that opinion could change with the release of part 2. As of right now, it is the most concise Fen have sounded since Winter while also growing on a progressive level. But will this momentum carry into part 2, or will it be a case of The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness? Only time will tell.

Best Songs: Tectonic, Massif, Abyssal Plain, Barrow

For Fans of: Wolves in the Throne Room, Enslaved, Agalloch

The Polish atmospheric black metal band Zørza and their second full length studio album has a severe bloat problem. I was certainly worried at first when I picked up this record and saw Michael Kogler as a special guest vocalist. Those fears were met with a ten-plus-minute opener which has many of the same problems that Harakiri for the Sky albums have. Now to Zørza's credit, the album does get a little bit more refined after that point, but it does not pick up any momentum until about halfway through. The first three tracks are all mainly disposable and are generally forgettable. "Against Theocracy" takes me by surprise with its thrashier riffing and solid balancing between two closely related themes. 

The record ends in an odd place too as the thrash influence now becomes the forefront and "The Devil Wears Well" turns into a straight up crust punk song. I don't think the song is terrible; in fact I quite enjoyed it thanks to Zørza actually preparing it earlier on in the album. But as the closer it feels less like a definitive statement to end the album and more of a question. Questions like "What is Zørza trying to say on Twilight of the Golden Star?" or "Why is this album so painfully overbloated?" or my favourite one, "why does Zørza want to sound like Harakiri for the Sky so damn much?"

Best Songs: Against Theocracy, Stormspell

For Fans Of: Harakiri For the Sky, Groza, Hulder

With 1989’s ‘The Real Thing’, Faith No More, with new vocalist Mike Patton in tow, had discovered an unfounded fame that shouldn’t have seemed possible. With a number of hit singles, it would seem these alternative weirdo rockers were destined to be a flash-in-the-pan. But with 1992’s ‘Angel Dust’, the band would smash any critics and prove that the success they’d garnered was fully warranted

The forth studio album by Faith No More, ‘Angel Dust’ improved upon its predecessor in every way. The writing is much more polished and mature (well, as mature as these guys can get!), the production sounds fantastic and still holds up to this day, and the instrumentation and performances are remarkable. Everyone has a moment to shine, whether it’s fully embracing the spotlight, or subtle inflections in the background, everyone plays to serve the music, and the band as a whole sounds great because of it. 

Tracks like ‘Land of Sunshine’, ‘Caffeine’, ‘Everything’s Ruined’, ‘Midlife Crisis’, ‘Be Aggressive’ and ‘Crack Hitler’ show the band at their heavy, funky and energetic best, while mellower tracks such as ‘Midnight Cowboy’, ‘RV’ and a cracking cover of Lionel Ritchie’s ‘Easy’ gives the listener a chance to catch their breath. 

Overall, ‘Angel Dust’ is a fantastic album, full of absolute anthems. Easily one of Faith No More’s best, if not THE best, and essential listening for all rock and metal fans.  

As far as live albums go, ‘Live At the Brixton Academy’ can only be rated as “okay”. Released in 1991, this comes off of the success Faith No More had with previous studio outing ‘The Real Thing’. You can certainly feel the energy radiating from the band, with confident and charismatic performances, especially by vocalist Mike Patton, but sadly, the sound is far from brilliant, and as such, I think most fans are better off just listening to the studio albums.

There’s also not really much here to entice repeated listens. They play the songs, the crowd applause, Mike Patton says something, onto the next song. The set list is pretty good, with all the major hits present, but again, overall, there’s just nothing particularly memorable about this disc.

One best kept for die-hard Faith No More fans. And even then, I doubt many of them listen to it that often.

This has been sat in my playlist for well over a year by this point. I’ve heard it many times, but when it comes to writing a review about it, I have no idea what to say, or how to start. So here’s the lowdown, released in 2005, ‘The 1st Chapter’ is the debut album by Norwegian progressive metal band, Circus Maximus. 

That’s pretty much all there is to it. It’s a solid album, which ticks off all the prog metal clichés; fantastic musicianship, a singer with a powerful voice who can hit incredibly high notes, long, intricate song structures, and thoughtful, introspective lyrics. It’s all here. 

One thing I struggled with is that there’s nothing that specifically stands out that I can comment on. The music is really good and well produced, sounding a lot like Dream Theater or Symphony X (obviously), which is standard for this genre. In fact, there is one absolutely fantastic track, ‘Glory of the Empire’, which sounds like it could have come off of Symphony X’s album ‘The Odyssey’, so if you like that album, you’ll love this! The lyrics even have the legendary Gladiator line about “what happens in life echoes in eternity”. You know the one. The absolute cheek of them! 

Still, lack of enthusiasm aside for my review, this is a good album. ‘Sin’, ‘Why Am I Here’, ‘Biosfear’, bonus track ‘Haunted Dreams’ and the aforementioned ‘…Empire’ song are all worth checking out, and I’ve no doubt that Circus Maximus will stand out a lot more with subsequent releases.