THE FALLEN DIVINE – The Eternal Past And Future
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 04-06-2011
This Norwegian five piece intertwine the melodic twin guitar harmonies of Gothenburg-like death bands such as In Flames and Dark Tranquility along with extreme black metal-like vocals and progressive rhythms/ breaks on this self-released 3 song, 17 minute EP. Starting in the summer of 2009, they have an air of confidence about their music – which I commend them on as rarely do I think new bands really take the time to assess their sound and execute as well as The Fallen Divine have at this stage in their career.
My favorite of the three would be the closer “The Eternal” – opening with this quirky bass / lead guitar slow mood part, the song navigates through faster riffs and then more brooding, open speed picking while keyboardist/vocalist Magnus Kvist circles over the top with his wicked screams and lower roars before concluding once again with that strange atmospheric Christoffer Wig bass / Markus Charras and Magnus Haugo lead guitar refrain. “Replenished” has a slight twinge of folk guitar harmonies as well, just performed with electric distortion and only used for solo enhancement.
There’s a lot to take in with these three songs. Alex Stebbing has the right skills as a drummer to pull off the Bill Ward grooves within “Source Of Revenge” and also fire off some quick hitting fill work that’s necessary for all extreme drummers. If you are willing to handle the sparse production work (you can hear all the instrumentation, yet it’s not the clearest independent recording I’ve ever heard) this can be one of those ‘I remember them in the early years’ releases to own and treasure.