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The world of metal is an intriguing genre to dwell in. I'm always amazed by the neverending tendency to alter, vary and be different from other bands. No other genre has ever had so many crossovers and so many different elements thrown into the music as metal does. Of course, this is an elementary aspect within the style, and it's the absolute foundation to begin with. Be original, dare to do something different and fans will be blown away.
Feanor Omega is a one-man band from Austria. Some people might know him from his work with bands like Sakrileg, Tongueless Cuntkiller or Scargod. The solo project was formed in 2013. On this debut, Feanor Omega played all instruments by himself, except for the bass guitar, which was recorded by Mike Hell (Distastrous Murmur, Scargod & Sakrileg) and some guest appearances by Richy (Thytopia) and Morbid Florist (Sakrileg).
For the main part you can say that 'Anima' is an atmospheric black metal album with a pretty big amount of folk influences. It nugdes towards the pagan black metal subgenre and reminds me of bands like Vintersorg or Winterfylleth. However, Feanor Omega doesn't feel like restricting himself to genres limitations and brings in some other elements as well, and some pretty surprising ones as well. His motto is 'to hell with genre restrictions' so you're in for a wicked ride.
In the opener 'Waiting' I can hear flashes of Moonspell, a sound which often returns on the album. At this point, this is mostly dark rock but that doesn't last long. In 'Risen' some heavy metal guitar solos appear and 'Drowning' is an acoustic folk song that evolves into a something Faith No More could have written. 'Die Sonne Weint' hints towards sludge, doom and depressive black metal.
However, it rarly lasts long before the typical black metal riffs appear, followed by some furious blast beats, at least in most songs. 'Missing Home' for example, is actually a beautiful acoustic guitar ballad (with surprisingly odd blast beats at the end) that has little to do with metal. 'Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost' closes the album in a post-rock like way, without drums or vocals.
This enormous blend of differents elements, makes 'Anima' a very complex album with enough variation to keep the listener entertained. And by listener, I mean an open-minded metal fan. Black metal purists will probably cast this weird mix aside because it's too eclectic and because there's too much variation and surprises. Especially the clean vocals sound a bit weird on this album. On the other hand, they fit in perfectly with the overall atmosphere.
So yes, in all, Anima is a pretty good atmospheric black metal album with a whole lot of different elements thrown in to enhance the gloomy, cold atmosphere. I do recommend checking this act out because you really never know what he's going to hit you with next. I'm quite curious about the future of Feanor Omega, this might become something very interesting to keep an eye on.
Serge
Feanor Omega is a one-man band from Austria. Some people might know him from his work with bands like Sakrileg, Tongueless Cuntkiller or Scargod. The solo project was formed in 2013. On this debut, Feanor Omega played all instruments by himself, except for the bass guitar, which was recorded by Mike Hell (Distastrous Murmur, Scargod & Sakrileg) and some guest appearances by Richy (Thytopia) and Morbid Florist (Sakrileg).
For the main part you can say that 'Anima' is an atmospheric black metal album with a pretty big amount of folk influences. It nugdes towards the pagan black metal subgenre and reminds me of bands like Vintersorg or Winterfylleth. However, Feanor Omega doesn't feel like restricting himself to genres limitations and brings in some other elements as well, and some pretty surprising ones as well. His motto is 'to hell with genre restrictions' so you're in for a wicked ride.
In the opener 'Waiting' I can hear flashes of Moonspell, a sound which often returns on the album. At this point, this is mostly dark rock but that doesn't last long. In 'Risen' some heavy metal guitar solos appear and 'Drowning' is an acoustic folk song that evolves into a something Faith No More could have written. 'Die Sonne Weint' hints towards sludge, doom and depressive black metal.
However, it rarly lasts long before the typical black metal riffs appear, followed by some furious blast beats, at least in most songs. 'Missing Home' for example, is actually a beautiful acoustic guitar ballad (with surprisingly odd blast beats at the end) that has little to do with metal. 'Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost' closes the album in a post-rock like way, without drums or vocals.
This enormous blend of differents elements, makes 'Anima' a very complex album with enough variation to keep the listener entertained. And by listener, I mean an open-minded metal fan. Black metal purists will probably cast this weird mix aside because it's too eclectic and because there's too much variation and surprises. Especially the clean vocals sound a bit weird on this album. On the other hand, they fit in perfectly with the overall atmosphere.
So yes, in all, Anima is a pretty good atmospheric black metal album with a whole lot of different elements thrown in to enhance the gloomy, cold atmosphere. I do recommend checking this act out because you really never know what he's going to hit you with next. I'm quite curious about the future of Feanor Omega, this might become something very interesting to keep an eye on.
Serge