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sabato 2 novembre 2013

Waning - Feeding of Fragments

#FOR FANS OF: Melodic Black metal, Dissection, Abyssos
Sweden's Waning have released their "Feeding of Fragments" EP earlier this year in September. This coming after 2 full-length releases, 2008's "Population Control" and 2012's "The Human Condition". The four song EP is a precursor to the upcoming, yet to be titled third full-length due at the end of 2013 or early 2014. Waning play a type of melodic black metal reminiscent to that of Dissection and Abyssos. Although, not as melodic as the aforementioned bands, the similarities can be drawn. Where it differs is in the over all cold and desperate feeling. "Feeding of Fragments" opens with the blazing "When Spawned". Fast paced and very melodic from the start, it hits it's peak between 1:34 to 2:20 when the melody varies and the vocals go from high pitched screams to a gurgling death metal style approach. The best track on the EP is "Not Among Them". This song shows the full potential of the band. A slower to mid-paced tune that displays that cold and desperate feeling I mentioned earlier. There is also the varied vocal approach here as Robert Arntsen moves from his common high pitched shrieks to a lower, not quite death metal growl (think Gorgoroth). As the song moves along it picks up momentum as it crescendos into fury of sick and twisted faster riffs. This track is also the longest of the four. That makes me think they knew they had something a little more special here. "With a Back of Sorrows Bent" is pretty standard issue and quite boring. The final track "Faceless in Line" which starts out with a nice little dissonant riff, meanders off into just ordinary black metal. I had high hopes for this when it started but it left me feeling like they just gave up on the song. Waning's strengths are guitarists Anders and Andreas. They compliment each other well and play some of the coldest and bleakest riffs that the genre has to offer. In genre where cold and bleak are staples, they succeed and exceeded my expectations. Their melodies keep this EP listenable throughout. The weakness of this band are the vocals. At times Robert Arntsen shows that he has the ability to do great things, however he seems to get stuck in the all too ordinary high pitch shrieks that take away from the music. Over all "Feeding of Fragments" isn't bad, but it does fall short of greatness and there is nothing here that's groundbreaking. If you enjoy melodic black metal with a slight, and I mean slight hint of post black metal, then this worth checking out. I hope that on the upcoming full length they write more songs like "Not Among Them" which is easily the stand out here and shows that these guys have the ability to craft original and memorable songs. (Brian Grebenz)