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