Last Updated on 12:14 AM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Black / Folk Metal
Country: England
Label: Seven Kingdoms
Year: 2015
Forefather’s acclaimed discography consists of full lengths mainly, all of which are well accepted in the underground scene. The band has been active for seventeen years now and “Curse of the Cwelled” is their sixth record, bringing elements of folk, pagan metal and a little bit of black, all together. I have not been a follower in the past so I can’t really do comparisons with the past, yet this stands well as a meritorious effort.
Even though it would fit to label the band viking metal musically, I don’t think their lyrical subjects are anything like that particular genre’s. Being English, Forefather also write about their heritage, which had the Englishmen as the main enemy of the Vikings back then, so it really doesn’t fit. Anyhow, strictly from a musical aspect, I don’t see why a person into viking metal would not like this.
The record is full of melodic passages, mixing heavy / black and pagan metal together in a recognizable and way. Listening to the record reminded me of the philosophy behind the Dutch band Countess, in terms of the production, song writing and structure. The vocals also come close to the style of Sakis from Rotting Christ, especially their late discography.
“Curse of the Cwelled” lasts fifty minutes and contains eleven tracks, most of which have a memorable moment or two. The band often uses clean vocals for choruses to add to the epic atmosphere, as well as the use of background synths in some tracks. Apart from these elements, the main characteristic of the album is the variety of the guitar lines, which offer plenty of great riffs throughout the album’s entirety.
The clean vocal parts are powerful and easy to sing along, that’s why I appreciated the record a lot. “Awakened Hate” might be the catchiest song for that reason, for it’s main part is a real jam. “By My Lord I Will Lie” is another awesome track as the previous one, making it hard for a fan not to follow the lyrics while holding their heart with their right hand. Forefather don’t really speed up anywhere, except a couple of songs like “Painted with Blood”, which does have a black metal-ish feel in it. “Edge of Oblivion” is in also in the same pace and contains some of my favourite melodies in the album, especially the introduction.
There are tracks which are legit examples of pure viking / folk metal, specifically “Rustics to Remain”, “Masters of Fate” and “The River-Maid’s Farewell”. The last is an instrumental and has sounds not used before, like certain keys, medieval organ and flute. Last but not least, the self-titled track starts with a part close to modern metal and feels like Megadeth. And still, it fits, that great.
All in all, I might have stuck with this record more than I thought, since I’m not a fan of pagan metal and the likes. However, Forefather’s ease with song writing and their ideas are really good and well placed, making this a great album after all.
4/6