August 2022 Feature Release - The Fallen Edition

Sorry, but this really doesn't do it for me. Listening to it, I felt like an oxy-junkie taking a couple of aspirin and hoping to get a fix. I don't hear very much doom metal here at all actually. There's heavy metal and power metal to spare, but doom? Not much at all in my opinion. In fact, it's not until the final track Memento Mori do I hear a riff that gets close to scratching my doom itch. On top of that I found the vocals hard to take, although musically the band seem accomplished enough, even doing a passable Iron Maiden impression at one point. The Roy Batty sample was the highlight of the album for me, so I guess it's just not my cup of tea.

2/5

I'm not entirely sure why but I kinda dig this. The vocalist doesn't get on my nerves at all, if anything his delivery is very unique and cool sounding. There are definitely some parts that make me wince a bit, but I think that's more on the songwriting than the guy's actual voice. Maybe because it's definitely closer to a Heavy Metal record due to the driving tempos and overall theatrics, but the extra Doomy elements and the synths give it a neat flair. I'm not incredibly impressed by it, I think it gets a bit old by "As Silence Grows Old" and the robotic interludes could have definitely used some more thought, but it's been keeping my attention this week so far. I sort of agree with Sonny that the Epic Doom elements might be a bit overstated, but that isn't really a problem for me personally; the choir and slower melodic sections add enough contrast to the product to keep it from being a free-wheeling Heavy Metal album. Despite being pretty straightforward and consistent with its atmosphere and approach, I think Danse De Noir takes a bit to unpack, so I'll have to see how I feel about it throughout the month. Cool pick, Morpheus.

3.5/5

Sorry, but this really doesn't do it for me. Listening to it, I felt like an oxy-junkie taking a couple of aspirin and hoping to get a fix. I don't hear very much doom metal here at all actually. There's heavy metal and power metal to spare, but doom? Not much at all in my opinion. In fact, it's not until the final track Memento Mori do I hear a riff that gets close to scratching my doom itch. On top of that I found the vocals hard to take, although musically the band seem accomplished enough, even doing a passable Iron Maiden impression at one point. The Roy Batty sample was the highlight of the album for me, so I guess it's just not my cup of tea.

2/5

Fair enough, but surely you don't actually think this is anywhere close to a power metal record? Your drug comparison seems appropriate, because you'd have to be on some to think that...

OK Morpheus, I'll not rise to insults, this isn't RYM. I am no expert on power metal as it doesn't appeal to me at all, so you may be right and I will concede that point, but I do know a bit about doom metal and to my ears there is precious little of it on this record. There seems to be a trend on rym of labelling any heavy metal record with a slower section or two or a downtuned guitar tone as doom. I listened to Ecclesia's 2020 album De Ecclesiæ Universalis also yesterday and that is another egregious example of an album labelled as doom metal which it clearly is not. Both of those albums would be far more at home in The Guardians than The Fallen. I would maybe ageee with Doom metal as a secondary at a push. Of course this is just my opinion and I have no wish to act as a gatekeeper for any genre, so if anyone else disagrees then I respect that.

There seems to be a trend on rym of labelling any heavy metal record with a slower section or two or a downtuned guitar tone as doom. I listened to Ecclesia's 2020 album De Ecclesiæ Universalis also yesterday and that is another egregious example of an album labelled as doom metal which it clearly is not. Both of those albums would be far more at home in The Guardians than The Fallen. I would maybe ageee with Doom metal as a secondary at a push. 

I can agree with this, but it's a complicated gray area that I don't really have a massive interest in figuring out. It's interesting though because if I was creating the playlist for The Guardians, I don't think I would be able to put any of the tracks on there since they sound a bit too Fallen-y to my ears. "The Verge Of Time" and "And Then The Planets Will Align" would be the closest, just due to how energetic the tempos are compared to the rest of the album and the "soaring" vocals, and I can see where US Power Metal may come into discussion there. At the end of the day though I think it's such a weird blend of influences and songwriting styles that what you pull out of it will be very different from person to person.

I'm going to suggest agreeing to disagree here, and let's keep Metal Academy as a place where we all respect each others opinions, even if we don't agree with them. By all means disagree, but do so in a nice manner. 

I have to admit that after giving this record a good few spins over the last couple of days I've found my opinion sitting at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum to some of those detailed above in that I feel "Danse de noir" fits the description for an epic doom metal release very accurately, so much so in fact that I'm gonna submit a Hall entry to have it removed from The Guardians because I don't feel the Heavy Metal tag is relevant given that it's more of an influence than it is a primary genre & is a necessary component of the Epic Doom Metal sound. Also, I really enjoyed this album & found it be a welcome addition to our list of feature releases. I thought the interludes were all really well done (particularly "Are You Human" which is outstanding) & the vocal delivery is something very different from what I'm used to hearing which gives it a strange appeal (think Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra meets the upper register delivery of Type O Negative's Pete Steele & you'd be pretty close). It's interesting that front man Patrick "Vinz Clortho" Palm is actually Lord Vigo's drummer too which isn't all that common. The incorporation of synthesizer accompaniment works well to enhance the epic atmosphere with Viking-period Bathory often springing to mind & the record finishes on a high with the chorus of album highlight "Memento Mori" possessing a dark anthemic quality that really hit the spot for me. There's a bit of a lull in the second half of the album when the band steer away from the doom for a couple of tracks with both the Maiden-inspired heavy metal number "And Then The Planets Will Align" & the noticeably flat Gothic Post-Punk song "Between Despair & Ecstasy" falling short of the mark but there's more than enough quality across the rest of the tracklisting to not only make up for those blemishes but to keep me very well entertained as well. Great stuff!

For fans of Candlemass, Solstice & Sorcerer.

4/5