Album Review: Fiends at Feast - "Towards the Baphomet's Throne"

I hope everyone is feeling as grim and dark as the frostbitten North because today I'm going to take a look at some brand spankin' new black metal! We've got Towards the Baphomet's Throne, the debut full length from California based black metallers Fiends at Feast. Now I know you think that sunny California and bleak black metal don't seem to mix, but if I didn't know  beforehand, I would have thought that Fiends at Feast hailed from the snowy mountain peaks of Norway.

Fiends at Feast hit the spot when it comes to black metal for me. I'm a big fan of the cold and grim atmosphere that a lot of old school black metal has, but I can't stand their DIY style of production. FaF have a sweet mixture of dark, evil, and menacing atmosphere and solid thick production.

The guitars follow a solid blend of tremolo picked madness and full on riffage. It's pretty standard stuff for modern black metal, and a lot of the riffs are pretty catchy to boot. There are some pretty wicked solos and leads on Baphomet's Throne, something a lot of black metal doesn't have enough of. A testament to guitarists Sammer and David's shredtastic skills are the solos and leads in the midsection of "With Blood and Vomit". They're brutally facemelting, and uncompromisingly sinister. Another feat of guitar wizardry is the acoustic instrumental track "A Despondent Theme to Thy Own Demise". It's less impressive in it's technical execution and more about its atmosphere and coherence with the rest of the album. Black metal rarely has any acoustic music in it, so to hear an acoustic piece that captures the bleak and dark atmosphere of the rest of the album is really cool. Kudos to Sammer and David for that one.

Honestly, there's not too much to say about the rest of the album. Towards the Baphomet's Throne is a pretty meat and potatoes modern black metal album. Nothing ambient or orchestral, just unrelenting death and doom. The drums are wickedly fast, blasting away and double-kicking into the blackness of the night, while the vocalist keeps to mid to low range growls, screaming out like a demon from the depths of the abyss.

Bomb-Ass Tracks: With Blood and Vomit, A Despondent Theme to Thy Own Demise, Hedonistic Heresy

On a Playlist With: Taake, Goatwhore, Dissection

Overall Score

3.0

Fiends at Feast have made a pretty textbook example of modern, no-shits-given black metal. Towards the Baphomet's Throne has got its shining moments here and there that set it apart from the rest of the genre, but it's nothing too, too special. I am excited to see what Fiends at Feast put out next. Hopefully next time they step a little out of their comfort zone and make a more ambitious release.

You can find Fiends at Feast's music at their Bandcamp page, on Facebook, and you can pick up Towards the Baphomet's Throne through Horror Pain Gore Death Productions.

That's all for now, folks! Stay kvlt.

-DG