Review Summary: The question is not how far. The question is, do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far is as needed?
Romanticism has played a tremendous part in the development of black metal since day 1 but never have I witnessed such a pussification of a musical genre until now. Bands like Satyricon, In The Woods... and Enslaved incorporated nature influence into their cold Nordic sound without compromising the integrity of black metal. Bands like Wolves in the Throne Room, Alcest, Woods of Desolation and Deafheaven have pioneered a lighter, less misanthropic take on a once darkened genre. Expanding upon their predecessors naturalistic influence with more folk and post-rock interludes and polished production values the core sound continued to soften which unfortunately in turn brought in a new estrogen filled fan-base full of Adam Thomas's. What was once a genre defined by testosterone and raw grit is now defined by vagina dripping idiots with a faux degree in journalism. The raw, primal nature that once defined black metal is now disappearing. Fortunately, all is not lost as the original spirit is kept alive by bands like Ireland's Fuil Na Seanchoille.
The name Fuil Na Seanchoille is Gaelic in origin, translating roughly into English as "Blood of the Old Forest". The name has some heft to it so my expectations were already pretty high as I viewed the bands name, its ties to the excellent Tour de Garde label and the accompanying monochrome album artwork for the 2011 debut release Hunger. Born in 2008 by lone musician Cormac, Fuil Na Seanchoille stands apart from the dreadful modern Irish scene much less the modern black metal scene in general thanks in part to it's foreboding melodicism, unrepentant ferocity and muffled production. Hunger is the bands first official album. Clocking in just over fifty minutes with eight individual tracks, Hunger is a throwback piece of aggressive black metal fitted with equal parts style and substance without getting too ambitious for it's own good.
Hunger has a discordant quality to it but at the same time everything flows together so nothing sounds purposeless or grating. The screeching feedback, the howling vocals, the doom metal like pacing and the cutting tremolo picking coalesce into a ball of unbridled yet focused aggression. The rhythm guitars and percussion stabilize the music's intensity by serving as the backbone of Hunger. Providing a strong sense of rhythm while keeping the music distinctly grim, the guitars and percussion fluctuate between tempos to keep the music engaging. The various guitar tactics used give the music a sinisterly melodic overtone that never lets up through it's fifty minute duration. The vocals are performed in a higher pitched howl that work in synergy with the instruments and production. Cormac's howl is very grimy, very dense and very unintelligible, not to mention very belligerent which understandably enhances the music. There are a few spoken word sections and a two minute ambient instrumental tacked on the end part of the recording for good measure. They don't necessarily add or detract from the music,they are just there.
Hunger is a stellar release that all fans of black metal should give a listen. It's not so much the RAWRRR RAWRR SATAN LIVES! WHITE POWER! type of bm as it is the emotionally/psychologically draining type of bm that makes you want to take a cheese grater to a hipsters face. In a scene full of bad trends, unnecessary positivity and unholy bestial posturing it's nice that Fuil Na Seanchoille came along to just play dark no frills black metal and to piss in the faces of your mothers who could not forgive themselves for birthing hipsters.
