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| #FOR FANS OF: Atmospheric Black Metal |
Fellwarden is a fascinating project born from the mind of the always creative musician, The Watcher, who is involved in several projects. Fen is, for sure, the most well-known of them and one of my favorite projects out there. While Fen successfully combines atmospheric black metal with some post metal/rock influences, Fellwarden was born with stronger ties to the first subgenre. The project was created back in 2014, and it has released two excellent albums, which are an honest musical proof of The Watcher’s immense talent and passion for this style.
As this year marks the tenth anniversary of Fellwarden, the English solo-project is back with its third installment, which is usually a crucial one because it usually shows if a project is capable of reaching a new point of evolution in its sound. The name of the new opus is 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' and the title itself shows a certain idea of how the album can sound. This is an effort that does not differ dramatically from its predecessors, but it surely has a stronger epic tone in their compositions. A preconceived feeling that is reinforced if you take a look at the majestic artwork, courtesy of the legendary Belgian artist Kris Verwimp. 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' contains six songs (seven if you have the limited edition), in which The Watcher unleashes his creativity with long and rich compositions, where all the traditional elements of this project can abundantly be found. The album opener "Exultance" is for sure a great choice to start listening the album. Ten minutes of pure atmospheric black metal with a majestic tone thanks to the addition of some clean vocals and an excellent powerful riffing. The classic raspy vocals are also there as a great contrast and have a great presence as you could expect. The ups and downs in the pace are excellently placed and make the song flow adequately, never letting it to sound predictable or flat. The combination of fast and slower sections varies in its distribution depending on the composition. In any case, mid-tempo sections, and even slow ones, are more prominent, like you can listen to in compositions like "Despair", which is clearly slower than the album opener. The subsequent track, "Renewed Hope", has a great contrast between the different sections of the composition.
"Desperation" is another excellent song, where the introduction of acoustic guitars, along with some touching clean vocals, creates an undoubtedly solemn and emotional atmosphere, excellently contrasted by the always necessary ferocious moments. The last part of the album follows very similar patterns, although the general pace is here predominantly slow, which is not actually an enormous issue. Nevertheless, at least for me, it leaves me with the feeling that the second half of the album lacks a bit of energy that some faster and heavier parts would give. From my point of view, this contrast between the solemn mid-tempo/slow parts and speedy sections would be beneficial for the album as whole.
All in all, 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' by Fellwarden is an excellent album. The tasteful and enriching compositions, the epic general tone and the great performance by all instruments and vocals, weights more than the occasional feeling in the final part of the album, that this effort lacks some ferocity. (Alain González Artola)
As this year marks the tenth anniversary of Fellwarden, the English solo-project is back with its third installment, which is usually a crucial one because it usually shows if a project is capable of reaching a new point of evolution in its sound. The name of the new opus is 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' and the title itself shows a certain idea of how the album can sound. This is an effort that does not differ dramatically from its predecessors, but it surely has a stronger epic tone in their compositions. A preconceived feeling that is reinforced if you take a look at the majestic artwork, courtesy of the legendary Belgian artist Kris Verwimp. 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' contains six songs (seven if you have the limited edition), in which The Watcher unleashes his creativity with long and rich compositions, where all the traditional elements of this project can abundantly be found. The album opener "Exultance" is for sure a great choice to start listening the album. Ten minutes of pure atmospheric black metal with a majestic tone thanks to the addition of some clean vocals and an excellent powerful riffing. The classic raspy vocals are also there as a great contrast and have a great presence as you could expect. The ups and downs in the pace are excellently placed and make the song flow adequately, never letting it to sound predictable or flat. The combination of fast and slower sections varies in its distribution depending on the composition. In any case, mid-tempo sections, and even slow ones, are more prominent, like you can listen to in compositions like "Despair", which is clearly slower than the album opener. The subsequent track, "Renewed Hope", has a great contrast between the different sections of the composition.
"Desperation" is another excellent song, where the introduction of acoustic guitars, along with some touching clean vocals, creates an undoubtedly solemn and emotional atmosphere, excellently contrasted by the always necessary ferocious moments. The last part of the album follows very similar patterns, although the general pace is here predominantly slow, which is not actually an enormous issue. Nevertheless, at least for me, it leaves me with the feeling that the second half of the album lacks a bit of energy that some faster and heavier parts would give. From my point of view, this contrast between the solemn mid-tempo/slow parts and speedy sections would be beneficial for the album as whole.
All in all, 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' by Fellwarden is an excellent album. The tasteful and enriching compositions, the epic general tone and the great performance by all instruments and vocals, weights more than the occasional feeling in the final part of the album, that this effort lacks some ferocity. (Alain González Artola)
(Eisenwald - 2024)
Score: 82
https://fellwarden.bandcamp.com/album/legend-forged-in-defiance
Score: 82
https://fellwarden.bandcamp.com/album/legend-forged-in-defiance