bartosso I'm a big fen!

Yes, Fen has a new fanatic. I haven't been so excited about an extreme metal band since discovering Opeth, that means since 2005! The music these guys play is absolutely haunting, beautiful and intriguing extreme metal, deeply rooted in black side of the genre. Did I mention that black metal is not my cup of tea?

When it comes to mixing styles I consider myself quite a picky person. I hate bands that clumsily combine different genres, creating an inconsistent medley. However, Fen mixed all elements with such a talent and intuition that I couldn't be dissatisfied. Obviously, the core of the whole is black metal rawness, but what Fen has built on that idea is a pure bliss. EPOCH is a fascinating journey where black metal savagery meets psychedelic and wistful sounds of shoegaze seasoned with post rock lightness and dreamy atmosphere of foggy wilderness. The music is emotional and bleak but you won't find any cheap or imitative solutions used to achieve the result. Everything stays in balance, just like in nature. Softness and harshness merge in one consistent and unique piece of art. There's originality of riffs and progression of rhythms but with ambiance in the foreground; there's fury and rawness of black metal with genuine passion being of prime importance. Really, in terms of creating unique and moving harmonies Fen are Opeth of black metal.

There's one thing that gets on my nerves when I listen to typical atmospheric black metal band - that is monotony. Lengthy and simple parts that cause impatience at best and boredom at worst. I was all the more surprised when I realized that I didn't get bored, not even once, while listening to EPOCH. I sat, speechless with wonder, listening to heart rending final of "Carrier of Echoes", evocative "Ghosts of the Flood" and haunting "The Gibbet Elms".

CHECK IT IF YOU LIKE: Drudkh, Alcest, Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, Opeth (especially first 2 records)

TRACKS BY RATINGS: 10/10: Carrier of Echoes; Ghosts of the Flood; The Gibbet Elms 9/10: A Waning Solace; Ashbringer; Of Wilderness and Ruin 8/10: Epoch; Half-Light Eternal

Phonebook Eater It’s nice seeing that, even though being still at the beginning of the year, we see so manyn great albums already coming to life: but I have to say that “Epoch” is simply the best so far, like many are starting to believe. In these last few years almost never Black Metal has reached these unexpected levels, and this said by a true admirer of the genre. “Epoch” is very possibly going to be the Black Metal album of the year.

The band is called “Fen”, an English band that released their debut album in 2009. A band that has proven that Black Metal is one of the most active genres of Metal generally speaking. Atmospheric Black Metal is as well been pretty popular lately, and very possibly this album is one of the pinnacles of the most recent movement. The music is rough, the atmospheres bleak and evocative, with excellent musicianship from all the musicians. other than ABM, we here in different occasions some shoegaze influences, a genre that I personally love.

Songs like “Carrier of Echoes”, “Ashbringer”, the tense but somewhat haunting title track, and many others just strike you like lightning, for their intense and beautiful tones that make this album so peculiar and fascinating.

An album I think many metal fans should start taking a peek at, and I can assure you it won’t waste your time, or money.

J-Man From Horizon to Oblivion

Fen's second album, Epoch, was released a mere four days before Towards the Shores of the End, a split album with Swedish one-man-band De Arma. I consider Epoch to be one of the finest black metal albums ever created, so I went into this one with some pretty high expectations. And I wasn't disappointed. Not only is Fen's half of the album excellent, but De Arma has also surprised with some great tunes to complete this split release. If you're someone who enjoys your black metal in atmospheric and downright beautiful variants, it'd really be a shame to let this one slip by. Although Epoch may be taking the black metal world by storm right now, this surely isn't an album to be forgotten about.

The first half (or four-sevenths to be exact) of Towards the Shores of the End is from UK-based post black metal act Fen - a band that has left me speechless recently. They play a style of post black metal with epic synthesizers and unforgettable melodies - that's no exception here. The first track, "Soilbound", opens up in heavy fashion before working in beautiful synth work. Clean vocals are implemented, and a beautiful post rock section segues perfectly into the heavy outro. "Ageless Thenody" opens with tribal-like drumming and hypnotic guitar patterns before moving into a slow-paced black metal riff. The title track is my personal favorite of the album, as it's filled with unforgettable and elegant melodies. An acoustic take on "Bereft" (from their debut album) closes off the first half of the split.

Although I expected excellence from Fen's half of the split, De Arma has also left me speechless. This one man project from A. Petterson is old school black metal with ambient touches, sounding something like Hvis Lyset Tar Oss-era Burzum. If you know my tastes in black metal, that's certainly a good thing. The first song, "Crimson Waters Ebbing the Shores", is filled with blast beats, fast tremolo picking, and an atmospheric synth pattern that harkens to the classic opening track of Filosofem. Slightly out of tune clean vocals compliment the song in ways unimaginable. "Noemata" is a more atmospheric, post rock-influenced track that sounds surprisingly similar to the other band in the split. "From Horizon To Oblivion" closes out the album, and is yet another spectacular track from De Arma. I simply cannot wait until this act decides to record more music.

The production differs between Fen and De Arma's halves of the split, but I personally enjoy both. Fen's production is done similarly to Epoch - this means that you'll hear a warm, 70's-influenced sound with nods towards the early black metal scene. De Arma's sound here is much rawer, but also clear and enjoyable.

Conclusion:

Towards the Shores of the End may not completely match the masterpiece that was Epoch, but it's an excellent split release from two top-notch black metal acts. If you like your black metal with atmosphere and beauty, Towards the Shores of the End should warrant many listens for years to come. This great split release is worth a solid 4 star rating and a warm recommendation from this humble reviewer. It's rare that you hear music so beautiful, especially from the extreme metal end of the spectrum. De Arma and Fen both have spectacular things to offer - I wouldn't want to miss it!

bonnek With "Epoch", Fen delivers the kind of harsh but atmospheric album that I had expected from Agalloch in 2010.

But while they are comparable to Agalloch, the band has found a sound of their own by adding elements from the British post-punk and shoegazer tradition, such as the big atmospheric synths from The Cure (Desintegration era), the Pink Floyd-derived clean guitar arpeggios from Fields of The Nephelim, and the occasional whispered shoegazer vocals, which were introduced into the Black Metal real already 16 years ago by Ulver. "Epoch" manages to conjure up a moving atmosphere drenched in melancholia, but as to the songwriting they are still dwarfed by named bands.

Because of the shoegaze vocals, the album ends somewhere halfway between the latest albums of Agalloch and Alcest. So Fen can be assured of a nice ride in their slipstream and, given the hype surrounding this type of atmospheric post-Black metal, they can expect a strong position in the 2011 year lists. Compared to Agalloch's "Marrow the Spirit", "Epoch" is an improvement on all counts. First of all they reach a higher level of musicality, mostly due to the more inventive drumming and the less cliché guitars. But also the vocals are much better, at least the growls and shrieks are, as they are much dirtier, grimier and nauseating then Agalloch's, and that's exactly how they should be.

The clean whispery vocals could still be improved a little but they aren't overused so that's ok. The songwriting is fairly good, but after a while the dreary mood of the music gets a bit too monotonous, there's not one song that really stands out neither. The production is a bit rough but that perfectly suits the music.

Fen still has some growing potential and I expect they will blow us away once they manage to make their songs more distinguishable from one another. Until that happens I'll stick with Alcest for my fix of - deep breath - atmospheric post-Black Metal with touches of post-punk and shoegaze. Nice one.

The Block Of Wilderness and Ruin

To say that I like black metal even the slightest would be a bit of an over statement. Up until “Epoch” I had only found one black metal album that I generally liked and that was “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” by Burzum. Taking that into account, before I even listened to Fen’s newest album I had listened to the hype and expected great things. And I pretty much got what I wanted. With great atmospheric passages and heavy riffs replacing each other seamlessly “Epoch” almost immediately caught my attention and kept it there every time I listened. Needless to say Fen has created an amazing album that is almost a lock to take “Album of the Year 2011”.

One thing that really made me like this album was the musicians on the album. They catch your attention right off the bat with a great atmospheric opening to the album in the title track “Epoch”. The synths, played by Æðelwalh, are absolutely superb throughout the title track and the whole album. One thing that Fen does exceptionally is transfer from light airy melodies to killer heavier riffs that are so good. This difference between dark and mysterious and light and innocent sounding tracks makes for a very enjoyable experience. One of the best things to do when listening to this album is sit down in a quiet place and immerse yourself in the music and just soak it in and absorb the full potential of the album. The little things are really what make this album very special. The little bass and guitar counter melodies really make the synths pop out and leads to a much more enjoyable sound than most of the recent black metal that I have listened to. Another song I would like to point out is perhaps my favorite track on the album, “The Gibbet Elms”. First off it is an epic, averaging out at 11 minutes, and the music on it is awesome to be simply put. The drums really carry this song and this track is one of the first songs where you can really tell the presence of the drummer, Theutus. Also this song is has great peaks and valleys that make the song have lots of movement. But the reason why I like this song the most is because of the clean vocals.

The reason why I am usually turned off by black metal is because I despise the vocals. The normal black metal screams are few and far between on this album, and instead are replaced by death metal growls, chants, and yes, clean vocals. As I mentioned before “The Gibbet Elms” has great vocals, and this is because it features the cleanest vocals of any song on the album. Towards the end and in the beginning The Watcher shows off his real voice and it is a thing of beauty. His lower sound blends on perfectly with the synths and guitars to make for a great sound that would be pleasing to all ears. Another song that has good vocals on it is “Of Wilderness and Ruin” because is changes it up a bit. Besides the normal growls and screams there are some chants thrown in there that really change up the feel of the album, and increase its worth. And this review wouldn’t be complete without this writer saying something about the black metal screams. I have already stated before that I take no liking in them at all, but for this album I have made an acceptation. While they don’t enhance the album in my eyes they don’t detract from it at all, and that is good enough for me.

The production on this album is fantastic, mixing the highs and lows perfectly while still leaving room for the middle songs such as the bass and such. The sound on this album is almost reminiscent of early prog recordings but with a metal spin to them.

There’s not much more to say about this album other than, if you don’t already have it you should get it. Fen has made a great album that anyone could, and hopefully will enjoy. It’s amazing that we’re only in the third month of the year and I am almost positive that this album will stay in my top two of 2011. An easy 5 star rating is warranted here.