Review Summary: That’s one small album for man…
A Fate Worse than Home includes ambient segments, and melodic shreds. It’s expected of atmospheric black metal, but pleasure is in the exceptional execution in this special case. Drum beats are a blast, but the guitarist’s skill level is especially memorable. Riffs showcased are generally quite intricate, subjecting oneself to a dizzying array of spiralling notes. It can become quite overwhelming, especially in the final track. Lest we forget masterful guitar solos executed in songs, to boost the impression the guitarist makes further. You won’t leave bored after listening to the guitars, certainly.
A little more could’ve been accomplished with the ambient music portion possibly, but I believe it was just the right amount. The atmosphere is incredibly moody, with even the Earthy guitars chipping in. In contrast, the lead growls are piercing and bombastic. While his tone isn’t the most varied, his voice retains power in his selected range.
As far as that spacey album art, the album stays well grounded. There’s a spacey element for sure, with some lovely ambient music textures, but the album’s focus is the mind blowing talent of the guitarist. It’s a riff filled, engrossing atmosphere all around, but the focus on
whizzbang riffs detracts from the spaciness. It all results in an album that is a blur of technical wankery, but also a blur. With this kind of velocity at work, sky train owners will soon be out of business.
There’s certainly hope for this band in their genre. The ability to mix crazy ass riffs with pretty atmospherics - without making a cheesy album - that’s quite a compelling result. A Fate Worse than Home is an intriguing haven for guitar lovers, though a fairly repetitive experience overall. It’s not a particularly strange or unforgiving release, it’s fairly straight and narrow, especially concerning the drums. With no limits on the off-the-chain guitarist, however, the band remain memorable. The atmospherics/keyboards are not the highlight here, it’s all about the guitars. I found the album enjoyable overall, after all, I love guitars.
While certain riffs are repeated a lot, the technical method employed nonetheless impresses thoroughly. I couldn’t believe what I was listening to, and I think many will feel the same. Unlike many black metal bands, there’s actual riff hooks included with the icy guitars. The result is an album that’s difficult to pass up. You can hardly go wrong with this release.
