Artist: The Fallen Divine
Title: The Binding Circle
Genre: Progressive Black Metal
Release Date: 28th November 2011
Label: Self-Released
Album Review
THE FALLEN DIVINE is a Progressive Black Metal band from Norway and ‘The Binding Circle’ is their debut album. The first thing listeners will notice is how varied the album streams through the darker side of Metal. There is Folk Metal, Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, and even Gothic Metal touched upon here, offering a haunting, yet exciting listen. One moment things could be a raging cacophony and then everything quiets down for some soft, yet technical guitar work (such as on ‘Northern Lights’). There is always some sort of melody present, whether it is in the fast, Melodic Death Metal tinged rhythms of ‘Replenished’ or the slow, foreboding melancholy of ‘Shades Of Oppression’ that trudges along like Gothic or Doom Metal. Vocally, the music tends to balance between Black and Melodic Death Metal; not quite a shriek but also not so low a growl as opposed to vengeful snarl.
However, the hidden gem in THE FALLEN DIVINE’s music isn’t in the ferocity of the vocals; it is in the subtle musical moments. The finest example is in ‘Fire Lights The Night’ where suddenly it is just the drums and guitar together repeating an extremely catchy rhythm for a few seconds while a very funeral sounding keyboard or backing symphonic instrument plays before then letting the guitar take the lead in a very CYNIC-esque solo. And then there are tracks that are just downright aggressive with little room for merciful breaks such as ‘The Tormented One’. Here, the guitars tend to sound a bit more basic as they chug along to keep up with the vocals before switching over to Melodic Death riffs that feel like they were inspired from groups like DARK TRANQUILLITY (without the overuse of keyboards).
The final track ‘The Binding Circle’ touches on the best Progressive Death/ Black Metal for THE FALLEN DIVINE. Opening with piano and then building the crescendo by layering the guitars upon one another, there is a strong OPETH ‘Blackwater Park’ era sound to this. After a raging blast of harsh vocals, things quiet down for the guitar to perform a solo with the drums in the background and also including the vocals with more of a whisper, making this the most haunting and diverse track the album has to offer before it closes on the same subtle note that the album began. Listeners will be left pleasantly stunned and surprised at how fresh ‘The Binding Circle’ sounds in a sea of more one-sided Black or Death Metal albums. It’s difficult to play favourites on an album like this when every track stands out on its own, which is a rare thing these days, especially for a debut album. Fans across the board on Black and Death Metal will certainly enjoy this for the dark, yet aggressive atmosphere.
Tracklist
01. Dissension - 7:30
02. Shades of Oppression - 5:26
03. Fire Lights the Night (Self Ignition) - 5:28
04. Patterns Through Eternity - 3:48
05. Northern Lights - 8:02
06. Replenished - 6:12
07. The Tormented One - 4:57
08. The Binding Cycle - 6:34
Line-up
Magnus Kvist – Vocals/Keys
Magnus Haugo – Guitar
Markus Charras – Guitar
Christoffer Wig – Bass
Alex Stebbing – Drums
Website
www.myspace.com/tfdofficial
Cover Picture
Rating
Sound: 9
Music: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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