siLLy puPPy One of the early pioneers of what has become known as blackgaze, the London based FEN has been referred to as the English Agolloch and for great reason. Both bands develop lengthy soundscapes that evoke vast desolate terrains that are bereft of hope and fuse the world of atmospheric black metal with post-rock, acoustic guitar passages and nightmarish atmospheres although FEN while following Agolloch’s footsteps, took things into even bleaker depths of depression and without the folk elements.

Formed in 2006 and named after the Fens of East Anglia, the quartet of The Watcher [Frank Allain] (vocals, guitar), Grungyn [Adam Allain] (bass), Theutus [Daniel Spender] (drums) and Draugluin (keyboards) released the EPs “Ancient Sorrow” and “Onset of Winter” before unleashing this ferocious debut THE MALEDICTION FIELDS onto the world. Given the success of the first blackgaze band Alcest, FEN followed the stylistic approach only kept the fiery black metal aspects in tact making their debut sound like an early second wave black metal album that incorporated the world of post-rock.

The seven tracks that make up THE MALEDICTION FIELDS feature atmospheric and ambient soundscapes that alternate between depressive acoustic passages and caustic black metal outbursts and everything in between. While black metal in general is usually uptempo with blastbeats in a furious rampage, FEN opted for a mellower mid-tempo trot. The band has been called the perfect mix of Agalloch, Negura Bunget, Primordial and Burzum but of course that only gets you in the right ballpark. Like many of these bands, The Watcher’s vocals range from raspy screams to clean melodic ones.

Unlike much post-rock and -metal, FEN offers melodic song structures that simply extend the playing times with long repetitive and hypnotic extensions. The track lengths all exceed seven minutes (minus one that misses by two seconds). The song structure also adopts subtle influences from progressive rock with complex arrangements that don’t seem quite so because of the slower ratcheting up effect. Like most bands that fall into the world of blackgaze, this one sort of meanders and implements the harsh tones, timbres and distortion of black metal but basically in the music itself falls into the world of post-rock and mellow prog.

This was highly touted as the next best thing when it was released in 2009 but i can’t say i’m the hugest fan of THE MALEDICTION FIELDS. It’s definitely an interesting and unique experience but it seems lopsided in many ways. While the black metal parts are performed exquisitely, the clean vocal parts are quite weak to my ears. There’s just something that seems to be missing and i can’t quite put my finger on it. The album is also way too long with one too many sprawlers for my liking. The most unsavory parts come when the raspy black metal vocals are singing in tandem with the clean vocals. Some sort of beauty and the beast take that falls flat. Innovative for sure but pleasant to listen to over the long run? Not really. This is definitely one of those albums that once the wow factor wears off it becomes quite average.

Warthur Though I found that the followup, Epoch, suffered from a little sophomore slump, I was impressed enough by Fen's Winter to want to go back and explore more of their discography, and I find that The Malediction Fields is a superior example of their early sound. It's still atmospheric black metal with some blackgaze elements, but what makes this a keeper for me is the slightly more prominent post-rock influences, making Fen a sort of UK answer to the likes of Agalloch. Deftly balancing harsher and more gentle musical stretches, Fen display a deft command of atmosphere here, which of course is the name of the game in this particular black metal subgenre.

Warthur I hadn't found Fen's second album, Epoch, to be much of a keeper, feeling like it was riding along on the blackgaze bandwagon without really contributing much of its own. On hearing this latest release of theirs I'm a bit more taken by the sound; perhaps they've improved and matured in terms of their overall atmospheric black metal mastery, or perhaps it's that the album shows a bit more original ambition this time. Constructed of one continuous multi-part suite, it takes the listener as promised on a journey through chilly landscapes - and whilst winter-themed black metal isn't something there's a shortage of, Fen's baroque, intricate take on it is interesting, though I find that as with much blackgaze stuff it rather all starts blending together after a while.

Kev Rowland

Formed in early 2006 with the goal of producing Atmospheric Black Metal that incorporates elements of post-rock, Fen have, since then, found themselves at the vanguard of a resurgent UK Black Metal scene. With an EP, four full length albums, several splits and compilations to their name so far, this their latest full-length album (released March 2017) is their most ambitious to date, as they have combined Black metal with many other styles to create something that is very special indeed. Conceptually, they have returned to the roots of their ideology, seeking to embrace and distil all that inspired them when they first set out on this path over a decade ago – that is, to invoke the ambience of bleak reflection and ancient sorrow that permeates the mysterious landscapes of the fens of Eastern England.

According to singer/guitarist The Watcher this album “very much describes a journey towards sanctity and redemption across a landscape steeped in mystery, hints of forgotten darkness and sorrows long since drowned in the distant past.” There are six songs, but the only real way to play this album is to put it on at the beginning and be prepared for seventy-five minutes of music that will take you well away from the comfortable world you reside in, to a place that is far more barren and bleak, filled with foggy atmosphere and danger. How just three guys (The Watcher is joined by Havenless on drums and Grungyn on bass and vocals) can produce something as majestic and over the top of as this is just beyond me. It shows that although the Scandinavian countries seemed to have very much a stranglehold on this type of music for a long time, that is no longer the case. Fen have been going for ten years now, and they are just maturing and getting even better with age. The record label describes this as “atmospheric Black Metal and delicate, spacious cleans, married with aspects of 70s progressive rock, shoegaze and doom metal”. I can make it much simpler than that. This is genius, nothing less.

adg211288 The United Kingdom has become a bit of a little hotbed for a certain brand of atmospheric black metal act in the last ten years. There's a trio of bands that have long stood out that represent this niche; Winterfylleth, the sadly now defunct Wodensthrone and of course the subject of this review, Fen, who to my ears have proved themselves the pack leader for their high quality, consistent output all the way back to debut album The Malediction Fields (2009). The band, which has revolved around The Watcher (vocals, guitars) and Grungyn (bass, vocals) since their 2006 formation, have continued to impress with each release, with up until this point the standout for me being Dustwalker (2013), which a few years down the track I've started to think of as their underrated release. Now presenting their fifth album Winter (2017), I have little reason to think that Fen will be giving their fans anything to worry about.

And that's absolutely the case, naturally. Masters of their craft, on Winter we find Fen delivering a set of six tracks that flow into each other, making the experience like listening to one seventy-five minute song, an impression only further cemented by them being titled with Roman numerals, with the rest of their names in brackets, making them appear more like sub-titles. Each track breaks or at least gets very close to the ten minute barrier and includes the band's longest track yet, the 17:08 I (Pathway). The shortest is the last, VI (Sight), which still lasts for 9:44. Though broken up into these hefty chunks, each of which carries it's own feel and identity, Winter is an album that deserves your full attention from beginning to end without a pause and it's for that reason that I shan't mention any particular track as a clear highlight. Winter is the highlight.

Musically Winter blends many elements familiar to the Fen sound such as atmospheric black metal, post-rock and a mix of harsh and clean vocals. While they are not a band whose sound tends to vary too much between releases, the biggest shift in the past being between second album Epoch (2011) and Dustwalker when they dropped having a keyboardist in their line-up, meaning that Winter is unmistakeably the work of Fen, they have never been a 'heard one, heard them all' kind of band and that's especially true of this album as it finds Fen adding more progressive metal airs to their sound, with the album featuring some riffs of added complexity compared to the blackened atmosphere that their genre typically serves up. I (Pathway) is quite noticeable for this and is quite a direct progressive black metal sounding section of the album for a good chunk of its length, while other tracks tread more familiar ground.

A long album such as Winter has every chance of coming across as overwhelming or even simply being too much of a good thing. That is not the case here. Like other Fen albums the first impression was incredibly positive and further listens have only shown the album to keep on giving the more it is explored. Speaking as someone who has loved all of Fen's prior work, to my ears Winter is on a whole other level. An ambitious release and one that the trio pull off smoothly and with finesse. For my money, this is the best album from Fen yet.