FEN: "Dustwalker"

When Fen first appeared in 2007 with their mini-album Ancient Sorrow, its timing couldn't have been more propitious: it was around then when Drudkh had came up with their masterpiece Blood in Our Wells and so had Alcest with Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde – both albums, frankly, belonging to my favourites of all time – so there was unquestionably a lot of demand for atmospheric, natural, melancholic dwelling within the frameworks of black metal. Fortunate for Fen, the band garnered a heap of attention and this resulted in the acclaimed The Malediction Fields in 2009 and its follow-up Epoch two years later.

But where exactly does the band stand in 2012 when people's initial infatuation of 'shoegaze black metal' has pretty much worn out by now and everyone is looking for something different already? Quite interestingly, their third album Dustwalker hasn't really departed from the style that they've been playing for six years or so: and I only find this positive since it verifies that Fen is not just a shallow passer-by to the realms of 'trendy' black metal aesthetics (a.k.a. incorporating elements of post-rock into black metal), but a serious player in the field, a field that's been poisoned by a plethora of mimics. Fen, however, somehow manages to avoid the biggest clichés and provides some of the finest compositions I've heard this year.

What one could have expected after such an introvert, magical and calm journey as Epoch is that the beginning of Dustwalker would also build up slowly with some subdued synths maybe, but that is very far from the truth when "Consequence" quite literally kicks in with a growl and a menacing melody pattern, soon followed by ravaging blast beats. So is this the sound of Drudkh gone all evil? Perhaps something close to that, and I'm already sensing that fans of the band's earlier material will find this element of raucousness, of stark sounds only positive. Yes, Dustwalker is in general somewhat harsher and thus in evident contrast with Epoch, but don't you lovers of calmful meditations worry too much: within these massive and intricately textured 10+ minute pieces you will find plenty of moments to breathe and just indulge in peaceful melodies.

I find it unnecessary to go too much into details of individual tracks but since some of the ideas presented here are simply so enthralling I think I just have to mention some of the album's best parts, like the latter half of "Spectre" which has this addicting distortionless line that culminates into a clamorous wall of instruments: this spectacular, bigger-than-life ending made of pure euphoria serves as a reminder that you can still do plenty of things right with something as simple as reverby tremolo. Then there's the middle section of "The Black Sound" that has this slightly doom metal feeling to it, another section crafted of rather simple ideas yet they've turned it into something very effective.

Let those be just a couple of examples what Dustwalker has to offer. But on the other hand I also want to dedicate a moment for some criticism, which mostly goes to the production of the album. I'm not an audio professional but this sure does sound like it's way too loud, so I wouldn't surprise if there was a lot of clipping in here. In all honesty, the pummelling drums (and the 'wavering' effect they create) almost cause a sickening feeling at times. Neither I'm much fond of the cover art with the album name that oversized and the general photoshopped feeling of the piece.

But I suppose those are just minor rants that deservedly pale in the shadow of the compositions themselves: needless to say by now, Fen has done a great job again with combining memorable riffs and atmosphere. One interesting thing to note is that there's no synths on this album at all, so the songs rely heavily on guitars. Also, remember to give the album a little bit of time. My initial thoughts on Dustwalker weren't as positive as they're now and although I still haven't got fully over the maybe-a-bit-too-rocking elements of "Wolf Sun", I've grown to respect that song too. Dustwalker is a really worthy installment to Fen's catalogue so the score I've given might seem too harsh considering how I've praised the album, but if we compare it to e.g. Epoch of which I can't basically find anything negative to say about (and hence it's rated 4.5 / 5), I hope the rating makes more sense.

4 / 5

SZRON: "Death Camp Earth"

It's crazy to think that around two years ago I still thought that Polish black metal had already seen its most glorious days and nowadays the country yields only rather generic music, but oh how wrong was I. Whilst the first remark might still be true to a large extent – nothing quite beats what the various The Temple of Fullmoon bands did in the 90s – I constantly find myself lured to listen to Dark Fury (all albums now in my shelves), Ohtar (oh, true for that too) and other somewhat newer, mostly 21st century acts hailing from Poland. Szron is another example of these, and especially their 2010 album Zeal. Characteristic of the label Under the Sign of Garazel, I didn't see their newest album Death Camp Earth coming at all, I just suddenly came across it and saw it was released already in September. Information flow in the age of the internet isn't so flawless after all!

Death Camp Earth follows its predecessor in similar steps in that it consists of just a few tracks, though this is compensated by their lengths so that in total the album runs for a fitting 39 minutes. These four songs form this concise whole of uncompromising underground black metal which comprises both hateful tremolo riffing as well as a sense of sadness. Compared to earlier efforts, I think there's a bit more concentration on evoking a brooding, misty atmosphere instead of just kicking things dead with mere powerful rhythms. This means there's plenty of ominous and rather slow dwelling like the long interlude in the center of "Becoming a Shadow" consisting of nothing but a repetitive pattern of plucked, distorted guitars. "The Birth of a God" is all sullen too, seas of tremolo delivering utter hopelessness. "Summoning the Storm of Nothingness" picks up the pace a little and gives more space to ferocious riffing. The self-titled song, then again, concludes the album in a rather wistful mood.

The album is in almost every way the kind of black metal I always prefer, but it does have its minor glitches. The only proper problem I have with it is the production which suffocates the drums way too much into the background: where's the bass drum? The snare? Level them a bit closer to the massive walls of guitars, and you've got a winner right there. But now we kind of miss the power those sweet beats in e.g. "Summoning the Storm of Nothingness" would otherwise have. With this production in mind, I wouldn't say Death Camp Earth is as good as Zeal but this does come very close to it. Very much recommended anyhow if you're up for a feast on some tasteful black metal that doesn't play with unnecessary gimmicks.

3.5 / 5

PURE EVIL: "As Blood Turns Black, Mankind Shall Drown in Despair"

On previous albums, Pure Evil has been known for roaming the territories of underground death metal in a really Satanic manner, and in spite of getting albums released via black metal related labels it wasn't until the dawn of As Blood Turns Black, Mankind Shall Drown in Despair that the band adopted clear black metal influences: so clear actually that you couldn't really figure out this album is Pure Evil (though the vocals are still rather low-ranged growls), because this really is Pure Evil gone Pure Black Metal.

From the first seconds of the eponymous introduction 'til the very end we've got some freezing tremolo picked riffs evoking hatred with an edge of melodic nostalgia. The soundscape is rather harsh in its basslessness, but it is only fitting considering the totally different grounds on which the compositions have been built this time around: instead of any two-minute death feasts, there's something like "Slain by Frost" which runs for continuous eleven minutes, comprising adventurous riffing and various beats to back up the journey in some very cold atmospheres. Even "Tapa Minut" ("Kill Me") with its quite brutal message deals with a lot of piercing melancholy which only brings some seriousness to the issue at hand: I doubt I would've been as affected had this been a mere menacing piece with less varied riffing, because we've all heard that before.

One feature that really surprises me here is that these damn riffs and melodies actually get stuck to my head. It doesn't happen with many new albums nowadays, so whatever is the secret to Kryth's ability come up with memorable songwriting, I raise my hat especially since Pure Evil hasn't played in this style ever before. But surely he's gotten the skills from Korgonthurus, a band that would actually be the best comparison to Pure Evil as of 2012. I do wonder if this was just a one-album experimentation and sure wish it wasn't since I, as a sucker for Finnish black metal done this way, enjoy As Blood Turns Black, Mankind Shall Drown in Despair even a lot more than the previous death metal recordings.

4 / 5