Review by Saxy S for Fen - Monuments to Absence (2023)

I've gotten really lucky this month when it comes to discovering high quality black metal. It started when I selected Tómarúm's unbelievable record from last year Ash in Realms of Stone Icons for the feature release in the Infinite, and now we finally have the return of one of my favourite and unsung heroes in the modern black metal scene, Fen. 

When I originally listened to 2017's Winter, I was taken for a ride that went far beyond a typical atmospheric black metal album. This record left me shaking in my boots since it was the first extreme metal album I heard in quite some time that really resonated with me. The pure raw sound of the black metal was paired wonderfully with the post-rock/shoegaze elements and while the album was long, it never felt liked it overstayed its welcome. Paired with a concept that was bleak and depressing and it had all the makings of a classic.

While I did enjoy 2019's The Dead Light, something about it did not hit the same way. I feel like it must have been the added attention to the progressive elements as it kind of held the album back from reaching a true apex as the last record did. Well in 2023, Fen's newest album, Monuments to Absence is another quality release from the band and an easy lock for one of the best albums of 2023!

So what changed? Well the album certainly sounds a lot angrier than The Dead Light and it results in a return to the pummeling sounds that made Winter so great. When the album commences with huge power chords on "Scouring Ignorance" that do not stop, I knew I was in for a treat; and it looks like most others agree with me. That seems to be why many are praising "Truth is Futility" not only as the albums best, but also one of Fen's best individual songs. And I must admit that song is pretty great.

Monuments to Absence is a refined album that manages to split the difference between it's black metal intensity and the progressive elements that felt out of place on the last album. This record has very little (if any) of the uncommon time signatures and wacky song forms with guitar solos that run rampant throughout progressive music. The guitar leads are well incorporated into song structures and do not take away from The Watcher's incredible vocal performance. The one gripe that I have with this new album is that while Winter had an incredible sense of pace, the back half of Monuments to Absence does not hit the mark quite the same as the beginning. The Dead Light did experiment with shorter song's and some of that is passed on at the beginning of this record, but the record does take a little too long to get to its conclusion and may drain you on repeated listens.

But that is such a minor nitpick on what is quickly becoming an elite discography. Fen create a smokey kind of atmospheric black metal that is right up my alley, but unlike Panopticon or Saor, this smoke is because everything is on fire! Not to mention the stellar production work and impressionist storytelling and this band continues to impress with no sign of slowing down.

Best Songs: Scouring Ignorance, Monuments to Absence, To Silence and Abyss we Reach, Eschaton's Gift, Wraked, All is Lost