HAPPY HANGOVER DAY (Part 2): FEN, TROLL BENDS FIR, AND TRIBULATION

This post is the second part of a round-up in which I’ve collected items of interest I observed over the last few days. Part 1 is here.

FEN

Fen are a three-man UK band whose new album Dustwalker is set for release by the Code666 label on January 21, and today they debuted one of the new songs, “Consequence”. I’ll say up-front that apart from coming across an isolated song or two in the past, I’m largely unfamiliar with their previous works. But I’m mighty impressed with “Consequence”.

In this long song you’ll find a combination of sheer vocal ferocity and almost ethereal choral voices; jagged discordance and blasting coupled with majestic melodies and progressive instrumentals; gloom and doom paired with soaring atmospherics; a mix of the abrasive and the sublime. And there’s an awfully sweet bass line running through the song as well. Have a listen to this striking song right after the jump.

 

 

TROLL BENDS FIR

This morning, our Russian friends in Troll Bends Fir premiered a new music video for a song from their immensely entertaining 2011 album Brothers In Drinks, which we have featured here before. The song is “Ass-Shaking Dance”, or at least that’s the English translation of the title, and it’s an apt title because that’s exactly what the music makes you want to do.

In the video, there is sea-faring, there is drinking, there is instrument-making, there is bondage, there is a failed neck-tie, there is hurdy-gurdy and fiddle, there is a lot of ass-shaking, and above all there is humppa! Prepare to shake yo ass:

http://www.facebook.com/trollbendsfir/
 

 

TRIBULATION

I discovered Tribulation this morning, and oh what a discovery it has been.

The band are from Sweden, and their second album The Formulas of Death is set for release in February by Invictus Productions. Today they premiered a new song named “When the Sky Is Black With Devils” that has utterly captivated me.

You’ll be fooled by the introduction — it’s dreamy. But when the main body of the song begins, you’ll be bulldozed by a ripping, rumbling, rocking assault of hybridized black and death metal that eventually goes off in unexpected (and almost avant-garde)  directions.  The riffing is infectious as all hell, and the song includes a riveting guitar solo and an entrancing reprise of the introductory passage at the end, with distantly chiming guitars and head-nodding bass. Vicious vocals, too!

It’s the kind of song that gets under your skin quickly but infiltrates the mind as well. Should be an interesting album if this song is a good indication.

I wish I could embed the song, but the only place I’ve found it is on Tribulation’s band-page player at Facebook, which isn’t embeddable. But I encourage you to go here and give this a listen:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribulation-Official/169889709720460?v=app_178091127385