FER DE LANCE - Fires on the Mountainside
Cruz del Sur Music
Here we have the second full length from this Chicago, Illinois act. The genre tagline on this is Epic Doom Metal again. Now I use the word "again" because I remember checking out this band's full length debut, The Hyperborean, from 2022. Back then I wasn't into it plus the tagline description is totally wrong.
This time around the same tagline is applied and it is wrong. Actually it should be "coming to a Pagan Fest tour near you." Yeah sound-wise this is what was once referred to as Battle Metal. In other words it's part Power Metal with an emphasis on the sword and sorcery themes. In the PR material they mention BATHORY's latter Viking era material as being an influence. Yeah I'll say these guys listened to Nordland Vols: 1 and 2.
Now with that all said FER DE LANCE's second album is pretty damm good if you acknowledge what it really is. I'm still laughing a bit since this band is from Chicago. Which every weekend has shootings, murders, robberies and their mayor is a scumbag. And this band is writing songs about swords and sorcery which have no satire to their city's problems. So hey fuck reality and lets delve into fantasy.
But with that said FER DE LANCE is a band made up of Metal veterans who know how to create epic sounding anthems which should make em a headline act at WACKEN 2026. I mean listen to this early in the day and walk out later unto a world of assholes. You're a battle hardened winner. I must admit that I'm not a fan of this type of music as I once was. But damm I can recognize talent and on this release FER DE LANCE explodes with it.
OK first off let's start with the song writing which is incredible. It reminds me of a concept album with acoustic elements weaved in to explosive epic numbers. The vocals soar with guitars cascading in with epic melodies. At times there's some great monumental soloing. The vocals are varied in style which gives things more variety. The rhythm section is over the top.
I believe the bottom line is that FER DE LANCE's sophomore album is America's best export to the European Metal continent who created this epic sounding music. In all honesty I think it's better than what they have produced. And yeah FER DE LANCE should be a headliner at Wacken 2026. Nuff Said!
https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/
LISTERN HERE:
https://ferdelancemetal.bandcamp.com/album/fires-on-the-mountainside-2
No comments:
Post a Comment