Artist: Blades of Folmär
Title: Magic & War
Type: Album
Label: Sokol Keep
I’m just going to take a moment of this review to acknowledge that this is a little later than planned simply because, just like Fogged Entity, Dale Of Shadows, Nocturnal Curse, etc, Sokol Keep have been putting out bundles that are just ridiculous quality and take time to get through. And in the case of the last one I spent ages trying to figure out how to review ‘The Phoenix Must Burn To Emerge’ by Sokol Keep and friends. And I still haven’t. But it is awesome. And then there’sthe Ithil tape that has still to be properly delved into.
Anyway, this is Blades of Folmär who I waxed lyrical (or mumbled and got giddy) about here on their debut.
This is a different beast and I wasn’tsure whether to place it in the Mausoleum or the New Music slot. So here we are, eventually. This is a story of two halves indeed, Magic & War.
‘A Land Beyond The Gates’ is a beautiful, contemplative way to begin. Uncluttered waves of synth chords bring me through an archway and as though hidden from the other side the mists clear and suddenly a vast kingdom of clouds and mountains, hills and vales reveals itself to me. It comes into focus as the music adds layers until a shimmering and bright world coalesces yet with a hint of stillness born of melancholy. Perhaps that is the fault of ‘An Unwelcome Arrival’? This is full of pomp, of ceremony and yet it genuinely feels like a kind of intrusion. It marches slowly and with…a controlled arrogance which works against the music of the land. It is like a struggle but one bound by the rules of etiquette, held in check despite the simmering antagonism known to all. ‘The Shadows Gather’ to close this part. Dark, ominous and full of purpose (and curiously reminding me a little of both Inade’s ‘Aldebaran’ and Dim Lights ‘Starspire’ in the presence it builds, one of darkness but an undeniable and intrinsic beauty as well as tragedy.
‘A Blade Forged In Black Flame’ strikes… a held moment and then utter fury. A wall of battering drums and fuzzed riffing, the surge of the black metal melody as the vocals snarl and toss disdain. The tempo changes to a slower one, relentless though. The sound is misty, the drums and vocals forwards as the guitar slips behind them. It is a raw sound indeed but so effective. ‘A Raven In Winter’ is war rolling with it’s own head of thunder and fire. A sense of the indomitable and inevitable, the guitar having a louder voice here, the song dripping with that mythic quality. ‘The Warlock Returns’ ends the war. A hiss of feedback and noise and bleak, bare notes twisted out and then the doom hits. Ponderous, drum driving forward slowly as the guitar winds around, a show before the strike. Direct and, I feel, triumphant. Some gorgeous moments as the the riff falls, the vocals twist and bite. Darkness prevails, the land will never be the same.
I like the ‘tale of two halves’ here. Firstly it is nice to see the roots of dungeons synth and black metal laid out so clearly together, but secondly the storytelling of how darkness ‘storms all doors at which she is permitted to enter at all’ to quote De Quincey is compelling.
Listen to a world collapsing into the chasm. It’s a sight indeed.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 