10/08/2019 22:07

Fen

Fen: 'The Dead Light' album out in December

Details of the next Fen album, 'The Dead Light', have been announced. The album is due for release on the 6th December 2019 via Prophecy Productions.

8 tracks of the band's trademark progressive/atmospheric black metal that confronts the endless skies above us, mankind's relationship with the stars and how the vast, hidden secrets of the universe have informed our thinking since the earliest dawn of civilisation. The tracklisting is as follows:

I. Witness
II. The Dead Light (Part 1)
III. The Dead Light (Part 2)
IV. Nebula
V. Labyrinthine Echoes
VI. Breath of Void
VII. Exsanguination
VIII. Rendered in Onyx

Representing the vanguard of contemporary UK post black metal, the band offers its heaviest, most direct album to date. It is the sixth full-length in a career of less than 15 years and marks another recalibration for the three-piece that, while always daring to use unconventional structures, found that the predecessor 'Winter' (2017) was the apex in this respect. "This time, we took on the creative challenge to say more in less time," says co-founder The Watcher.

That does neither mean Fen lost their trademark sweeping melodies and atmosphere, nor does it suggest less progressive structures. If anything, the material shows the group at its most British. "I'm kind of old school, I love heavy metal," the guitarist and singer explains regarding his more riff-oriented, straightforward approach that goes along with some more "outlandish" influences , ranging from Voivod circa "Nothingface" or "Angel Rat" towards latter-day Enslaved.

The result is a sound best described as "spectral, colder, sharper" according to the front man, which also translated into lyrics that revolve around the search for knowledge, symbolized by our upward look to the stars. "When we watch the sky, we basically travel into the past and literally see dead light - nuclear fire from exploded planets, annihilated civilisations."

Wiped out celestial bodies notwithstanding, with tunes like the twopartite, angular title track or the wistful 'Nebula', which has already become a favourite among at the trio's concerts, Fen in 2019 are luminaries that could not burn brighter.

The album will be available as a digipak CD, 2CD book edition (faux-leather hardcover, 18x18cm, 36 pages with preface, exclusive artwork and three bonus tracks) and a gatefold 2LP (black and a limited violet edition). Pre-orders have now begun via the following link:

http://prophecy.lnk.to/fen-the-dead-light

(source: Fen / Prophecy Productions)