Artist: Fer De Lance
Title: Fires On The Mountainside
Type: Album
Label: Digital / Cruz Del Sur
If you look up the word ‘audacious’ you will probably find it defined as ‘Opening an epic metal album with a thirteen minute long multi passage song; see Fer De Lance, ‘Fires On The Mountainside’ for an example of audacious’. Also I learned Fer De Lance is a nsake, so there’s that too…
It opens with a gentle, thoughtful guitar and soft vocal intro that when it picks up you’re not entirely sure how it is going to go. Power metal? Epic? Viking metal? All possible. A lovely semi-acoustic part and some fine, fine clean vocals softly, half whispering and then yes that foot to the pedal and it takes off. The vocals are the immediate point of focus; Huge power and range but just as you thing this is going into slick power metal with added air raid siren, the grit comes into MP’s voice. Its a glorious weapon to have indeed, but the rest of the band step up with ease which is the shock. The guitar runs are superb; flowing and flicking the time changes with ease. The bass has nice runs around the solid, power drums and the keyboards are used sparingly letting the metal speak clear and loud. It is fascinating following this song on its way. It builds an entire world through grandiose moments, cinematic keyboards and vocals, moments of peace before it inevitably rises up into a world of legend. And when it does… oh my word….the drums drive at a gallop, the melody line is heart bursting. We get almost death vocals briefly pulling my mind to that one glorious Twilight Of The Gods album. A deeper tone on MPs voice brings a huge fire to the song and this is absolutely storming epivc metal. It has heart and soul and a fiery forge pumping out the flames. You see yourself in the crowd as it goes nuts.
To be a bit sweary; this is fucking fantastic.
‘Ravens Fly (Dreams Of Daidalos)’ has a real edge to the opening riff and guitar tone which suits it so well as the track flexes its muscles. Again the vocals just strike you. They are so varied; at points they almost dip into Geoff Tate circa ‘Empires’ if he was gargling whisky, or rise into that Dio-esque glory and something like Ironsword growl. But the guitar is just brilliant: A little duelling, a hint of prog and a strange folk lilt in the hard punching sound just bring it to life. The arrangement with the keyboards is great, the song itself as restless as a Slough Feg composition. And yet this is all just glorious, celebratory heavy metal. Epic, full of passion and sung by a guy who I really hope looks like a grizzly bear.
On first listening this was about when I knew I was going to review this. The only reason I had stopped smiling was my jaw kept hitting the floor.
‘Death Thrives (Where Walls Divide)’ has a gnarly stop start riff but layered with a delicate strumming and the vocals wrapped around the deep growl and power from the diaphragm so it just rises perfectly up after the guitar and bass and drum as they power on. Musical interludes both hark back to classic rock like original Rainbow with their flirting the shores of prog, but trail fingers in folk and though some of this sounds European, a lot is also deeply rooted in that distinct classic US metal: Twisted Tower Dire, Slough Feg, Manilla Road. It’s a truly great blend.
‘Fire & Gold’ opens with a jaunty, almost Arabian feel to the music before it twists on the guitar and gallops into another blaze of glory and seetles into a gallop. The vocals seem to be urging the warriors on, a last speech before the blood comes. But you feel you are there, a dark night and distant fire as you ride. Hard, fading into legend.
‘The Feast Of Echoes’ has a pure Dio stomp to it, Egypt (Chains Are On) style, but of course finds it way into Fer De Lance’s own voice with the a heavy bass line and the shifting melodies around the central refrain. When it breaks out into the headlong gallop, the vocals going close to the death style, Bathory around Hammerheart maybe, it just sweeps me away born on a tide of drumming…And yet it all fits together seamlessly. They put more shifts and changes in the first five minutes of this than some bands do in five songs. It’s kind of bewildering in the best way.
‘Children Of The Sky And Sea’ opens up and in moments it’s anthemic. The guitar break, the vocals reaching out with range and emotion urging you to join in. You can see the singer’s hand reaching out to you… There is a chill down my spine, that melancholy thread of facing doom and yet not bending, not giving in. The refrain is beautiful, the guitar (by one Rüst, no less) seems effortless in the smoothe, graceful lines it performs. I could listen to this all day….
The album closes with ‘Tempest Stele’. A long, fuzzed intro and a march into Bathory waters once more but with that folk touch to the melody. It whips up into a dance, vibrant and whispering of distant shores, to North Africa, the Middle East… It raises a strange, intricate storm around it but one you welcome in to watch it settle into the dance.
This is Fer De Lance’s second album. A band I was not aware of (despite Aven Noctum having covered their debut) and came across randomly scrolling. It is… This is just a spectacular maelstrom of epic metal, Viking metal, a tint of folk, great roots in classic US heavy metal and more than a nodding acquaintance with the heavier end of prog metal. It is just glorious, celebratory, transporting music. You can see the influences of Dio and Bathory and Rainbow plain but their approach is for me unique in the blend to the songwriting. Yes the vocals are spectacular but so are the guitars and the drums and the bass but more importantly the songwriting and structure. This is very muscular heavy metal with a keen and striking intelligence to it and the smouldering energy that just has to be let out.
Damn. This is a blast.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 