FEN — Epoch (review)

FEN — Epoch album cover Album · 2011 · Atmospheric Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
Fen's second album greatly impressed me on my first listen, on which I thought they offered a deft mixture of shoegaze, post-rock and black metal comparable to a more melancholic version of the better Alcest releases. Sadly, on subsequent listens I found my attention wandering more and more. The thing about the band is that they seem to be relying on the genre mashup schtick to cover for the fact that they haven't quite mastered either genre, rather than to make use of a practised mastery of both crafts. Take out the black metal and you'd have mediocre shoegaze; take out the shoegaze and you'd have mediocre black metal. Add them together and you have novelty and regular changes of pace, but you don't actually have any material which truly excels at being shoegaze, black metal, or blackgaze for that matter. Stylish, worth a quick listen, but they don't excel.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
bartosso wrote:
more than 2 years ago
What I mean, to give an exemple is that: what does it mean "if you take black metal out, you get mediocre shoegaze"? It's not Lego where you can take stuff out. If it works as a whole, it means all elements are inseparable and mutually dependent. That kind of arguments. Just felt I needed to clarify what I meant.
bartosso wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Music ain't a craft, brother. No need to say that I don't agree with you, which is completely fine. Still, I also think there's no solid basis to your arguments (which, I think, is less fine IMO).
J-Man wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Interesting perspective! I haven't really heard from too many people who weren't blown away by this release (myself included) - always nice to hear the other side! :)

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Unearthly Litanies of Despair Death Metal
ENGULFED
Buy this album from MMA partners
It Beckons Us All....... Black Metal
DARKTHRONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Death Is Not The End Doom Metal
GLOSSA
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Way Forward Sludge Metal
BLACK TUSK
Buy this album from MMA partners
Till Aska Atmospheric Sludge Metal
WALK THROUGH FIRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 2 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed