October Falls

The Plague Of A Coming Age

Written by: MST on 04/10/2013 17:10:33

October Falls impressed the hell out of everyone with their third album "A Collapse Of Faith" back in 2010. Originally a solo project by main composer Mikko Lehto from Finland, this atmospheric black metal band have become a trio on this fourth album with bassist Sami Hinkka of Ensiferum fame, as well as drummer Marko Tarvonen known from Moonsorrow and quite a few other Finnish bands. Now receiving considerably more hype than ever, this new album sees October Falls sort of continue the sound that worked so well for them on "A Collapse Of Faith", while trying some new things and making everything slightly more accessible.

The main factor making this new album more accessible is the fact that it contains 9 songs with song lengths between 3 and 7 minutes, while the last album contained 3 songs with two of them being longer than 20 minutes. This album is easier to digest in bits, and the additional songs have allowed the band to write a more varying album. October Falls still dabble in slow, doomy atmospheres with melodic riffs and Lehto's whispery harsh vocals, but "The Plague Of A Coming Age" also features blastbeats in "The Weight Of The Fallen" as well as guest clean vocals from Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis fame in two songs.

October Falls do plenty of things right still on this album, as the fantastic riffs in "The Verge Of Oblivion", the energy in "The Weight Of The Fallen" and the atmosphere in "Snakes Of The Old World" prove. But there's a reason why I point these songs out: the last October Falls album was an atmospheric black metal album more than anything else. It was an experience that had to be started with the first song and finished by the last. "The Plague Of A Coming Age" clocks in at 50 minutes, but it doesn't quite keep the listener interested all the way through. Lehto has written some great riffs in his lifetime, some of which are on this album, but he has a very specific style which unfortunately makes many of his riffs sound very alike. With 9 different songs all containing very similar riffs, the music gets a little predictable at times.

As "Below The Soils" ends the album with more riffs that sound very familiar, I notice that it does so quite well. This is testament to the quality of Lehto's riffs and compositions; even though some of the album sounds like recycled material, the end result is still good overall. "The Plague Of A Coming Age" hasn't impressed me anywhere near as much as its predecessor did, but its increased accessibility should attract a fair amount of people to the genre who will hopefully discover what I think is the true sound of October Falls on "A Collapse Of Faith" and the enormous wealth of quality music waiting to be discovered in the underground.

7

Download: The Verge Of Oblivion, Snakes Of The Old World, The Weight Of The Fallen
For The Fans Of: Agalloch, Ulver, Empyrium
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date: 15.03.2013
Debemur Morti Productions

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