Despite having been around for a few years, this is Felled’s first full-length release and my first encounter with them. However, the press info was full of superlatives and hyperbole drawing me in enough to make me put my hand up for the review. So, with high expectations, I pressed play and over the course of five tracks and forty minutes Felled delivered an intriguing blend of black and folk metal.

From the outset I found myself making comparisons with Waylander and early Skyclad, perhaps with a hint of Agalloch thrown in for good measure, which should give some idea of what Felled are about. At its core, this is atmospheric black metal and when this element is allowed to come to prominence it is magnificent, but unfortunately for the most part this is buried behind prominent violin/viola melodies. In itself this is not necessarily a bad thing and I can think of many examples where this works well, but on this album something just doesn’t quite sit comfortably and some of the arrangements sound a little disjointed and incoherent, creating an uneasy tension and making it an uncomfortable listen.

As I mentioned earlier, the underlying black metal is great and some of the more atmospheric interludes work well, as do the clean vocals so there is a lot of potential here from a band that clearly have a lot or raw talent. Not a bad start and I look forward to seeing how they develop on their next album……

(6.5/10 Andy Pountney) 

https://www.facebook.com/felledband

https://felledblackmetal.bandcamp.com/album/the-intimate-earth-folk-black-metal