FELL ON BLACK DAYS – ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ (Self Released)
CD Reviews
Written by Gaz E
Friday, 21 August 2009 15:37
Be warned – read no further if you are weak of heart. Spawned from the debris of a former industrial wasteland, Fell On Black Days are a bruising, battle scarred behemoth ready to crush skulls, cities and doubters.
This four track EP sounds simply huge – teeth rattlingly massive. That’s if the opening track ‘Tooth And Nail’ hasn’t already kicked those molars out of your head within its first minute. Frontman Gavin Robinson has been blessed – cursed? You decide – with a voice that sounds like it could chip the paint from the Seven Gates of Hell. Growling like Pazuzu, Robinson will, given the opportunity, level cities when he opens his mouth.
In this day and age, there really is no excuse for bands to produce poorly recorded material and no excuse is needed from Fell On Black Days – this self financed release sounds massive with low, grumbling bass, screaming lead guitars, drums that make you feel like your heart is beating out of your chest and vocals that somehow threaten with ultimate clarity; Robinson wants you to know just how he is gonna fuck you up!
There is, however, no point in sounding great if you don’t have the songs to back it up. FOBD have no worries in this department. The afore-mentioned ‘Tooth And Nail’ drives a stake into your heart with its searing lead guitar breaks and demonic chorus that speaks to the listener in tongues. ‘Mea Culpa’ mixes old school thrash with contemporary loud-as-fuck metal in a dirty test tube and unleashes the unclean results on an unsuspecting public. ‘Cold Rapture’ has Slayer’s blood coursing through its veins and, with Robinson proving that he also has a singing voice ready to assault those 666 marked tonsils, is reminiscent of Killswitch Engage…..but without a prick in a cape running around spoiling everything. The title track fuses some serious melody to stabbing, violating metal.
With a fistful of brutal live performances and this incendiary EP ready to blow minds and speakers, Fell On Black Days have to be considered genuine contenders, ready to punch their way out of the desolation that, ultimately, shaped them. Ones to watch…..from a safe distance.