“One creature survived – the insect – and in a frightening tour de force of adaptability proved conclusively that he could endure where man would ultimately fail”. So we are told on “The Vermilion Trail”. This Black Metal work, Farsot’s second album, is littered with utterances like this and represents in musical form human weakness and the feeling of repulsion when faced with wriggling insects. This is a totally dark musical experience.
What I particularly liked about this album is the reliance on musical quality to get across the grim vision. The style is varied throughout but always dark. As you might expect, there are insect-like noises and grim commentary to reinforce the point but it’s not overdone or reliant on gimmicks or contrived shock tactics. From beginning to end it’s musically coherent and well-balanced. There’s a mix of creepiness, desperation and pure blackness but the guitar work can also be bright and breezy while maintaining suitable gravitas. “Insects” flows like someone’s irregular life and is constantly enriched by imaginative passages and developments. This makes it so absorbing and gripping. Instrumentally it is majestic. The wide-ranging and sinister guitar work and the militaristically styled but steady drums combine shift the scene and capture each act of this horrible adventure. The vocals are those of someone at death’s door. This indeed is the reflection of someone’s miserable life in the face of hose overpowering insects. As a work it treads its own path while in terms of its genre, it’s not Black Metal of the guns blazing type nor of Satanic rituals. In fact it’s very much like listening to fellow Germans Dark Fortress. It’s a deliberate and even melodic work where the death, disease and torment come from within it.
The pattern of fear and tension is set from the outset. The hissing and words build up to a maelstrom of ominous and evil sounds, yet within the music I sensed strains of Iron Maiden, Aeternus and Hawkwind. If the opening track “Like Flakes of Rust” doesn’t capture you, “Empyrean” will. This would be a candidate for my “track of the year”. It’s aggressive, hostile and superbly constructed with its fluid changes of style and pace. Deep and intricate guitar lines mix with chants and more technical guitar work. As ever it’s malevolent and forward-thrusting. We hear ominous and emotion-ridden chants. Melody and structure appears out of extremity and blackness. I was reminded of another German band, Disbelief, at this point. “Empyrean is a track of exotic richness and technical mastery. “7 – Farsot” presents a different face. It’s night music but beware its calm tones – it is scary, sinister and full of fear. “Adamantine Chains” presents another face. This time it is military, majestic and menacing. This album is laden with imagination. Vomited utterances of deathliness mix with sinister guitar work to create a creepy and dark atmosphere. Such are “The Vermilion Trail” and “Withdrawl”, which in common with this album as a whole remains fluid in spite of the change of mood within it. Finally, melancholic gloom on “Somnolent” builds up to a controlled and majestic finish. Although this album comprises 8 rich tracks with varying presentation and shifts and atmospheres, its theme flows through it and it was nice to have a proper start, middle and end to it.
Appropriately I received this album at Halloween. But this album is suitable listening at any time. I can only imagine what theme Farsot will adopt next time. War has been covered many times – disease or the experience of dying, perhaps? Whatever it is, I look forward to the same level of imagination. What is remarkable about this album is its wide mixture of musical elements encompassing fear, catchiness and croaking death amongst others, yet they do not compete with or dominate each other. It is stated that “Insects” focuses on emotional depth and the “Kafkaesque complexity of inter-human action”. Farsot convey this very well through their musical and verbal images. “Insects” is a first class album and I highly recommend it.
http://www.myspace.com/farsotband
http://www.farsot.de
Andrew Doherty
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