A while back I reviewed the split that De Arma did with Fen and expressed a certain amount off cautious optimism with the minor worry that they might be veering a little close to the Fen sound. Well from the first notes of the opener The Tower (no, not the song by white satin pomp rockers Angel) it’s pretty obvious that particular fear is redundant. This is jangly goth shoe gazing, breathy vocals calling from the depths of some mist, a kind of Fields Of The Nephilim meets Bella Moore. Until about four minutes in when we get a film clip interlude and despite the fact that my copy says this is still The Tower, it patently isn’t. Or it is a truly odd transition. Fuzz riffs replace the jangle, multiple layers of vocals talking to themselves, bleakness. This is…. this is mainlining Katatonia in that purple period from Discouraged Ones to Viva Emptiness before all trace of heart and soul was scoured from the sound. The looping guitar sound over the melody, the utter hopelessness, the relentless drive into the gloom. And then add in the harsh vocals from Frank Allain on follow up Left To Hide and the sound is complete, bleak and quite sumptuous all at the same time.
De Arma are currently the project of A. Petterson, ex-Lonndom, with J. Marklund (LIK) and F. Allain (Fen) and they are most definitely in that post black metal landscape of the aforementioned Katatonia (and there is a lot of Katatonia in their sound but more particularly in their phrasing though less of their conversational storytelling) and the bm/post rock riffscapes of Agalloch and, yes, a smidgeon of the flowing style of Fen. And yes I have spent too long making comparisons and not enough about “is it any good?”
On the downside Fires Of Hope is a fairly light bit of post rock found between the compelling, slow desperation of Watching The Walls Come Down with its rainfall like guitar times and the dour but harsher observations of Behind These Filthy Panes which for me, in context and contrast with its neighbours doesn’t quite work. But on the other hand, when you listen to a song like the eight minute Wretch, with its quite excellent blend of Fen style bm riffing, Katatonia melody loops and a rich mixture of interlaced clean vocals and feral harsh cries you can totally lose sight of the landmarks and just find yourself adrift in the sea of guitar that closes over you and makes all the comparisons in the world fade. You are with De Arma and no one else. Pull yourself out of the music, make a conscious effort to be objective, and the comparisons flood back but where is the point in that? This is remarkable music that is meant to be felt.
I worried a lot about the ‘K’ word when listening to this album at first but frankly there is a point when you just have to go with music before you rather than endless comparing and contrasting. Besides, there is more than one current in this bleak, grey sea as I note above and a clear personality pushing through. So instead slip back into the warm, bleak waters of the almost gentle closing song Dislocated and just be glad that De Arma are making this wonderfully compelling music.
Especially, and I say this carefully and gently, if you think Katatonia died after Viva Emptiness.
8/10 Gizmo
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