It doesn’t take a lot to get me confused, and receiving two albums from Fen to review certainly did that. In my ignorance I was under the assumption that there was only one band using that name, and that they are signed to Code666; they’re British, and earlier this year I reviewed their new album ‘Dustwalker’. But when I put this on there was obviously something else going on so I had to do some research, and discovered that there is also a Canadian act of the same name, and that this is their fourth album, being released in 2010. Apparently the main reason for the four year gap between this and their previous album was a line-up change which resulted in only Doug Harrison (vocals, guitar) and Mike Young (bass) forming the basis of the new version, with Doug being now the only person who had performed on each of the four albums.
Looking back on the press release I was given for the ‘other’ Fen, I see that their music is described as “fusing the cold rage of Black Metal with more reflective influences, FEN succeeds in creating a deeply intense, atmospheric, almost otherworldly sound, redolent of loss and melancholic yearning”. Although these guys could never be thought of as being a BM outfit, there is a lot in their music that could almost fit the above words as well. While deeply rooted in prog, this is music that has almost as much in common with BM and atmosphere as well. Imagine Muse mixing it up with Anathema and possibly My Dying Bride, while Opeth also make an appearance. It is incredibly emotional and at times very dark, even though the music itself contains a lightness that is quite surprising. It is powerful, and they have no fear of using acoustic guitar and moving into an almost folk singer-songwriter style, yet always maintaining a real presence in what they are doing.
This is an incredibly polished and almost brooding album which is definiely worthy of further investigation.
www.ripple-music.com
