Style: Power Metal, Stoner Metal, Progressive Metal (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Khemmis, Grand Magus, Candlemass, early Týr
Country: Australia
Release date: 16 April 2024
Despite my reputation as a Gay Little Forest Goblin, I have a fairly storied relationship with video games. When I was growing up, adventure RPGs like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and more mundane yet fantastical adventures like Pokémon Emerald took up most of my time, and recently, that weird spiritual successor to those Zelda games has fully captured my attention. So color me interested when I discover one-man project Fierce Deity’s mammoth three-track EP, Power Wisdom Courage, a catchy and unique blend of progressive, power, and stoner metal with a not-so-subtle nod to the Legend of Zelda series. Following up Power Wisdom Courage is full-length debut A Terrible Fate, taking a darker lyrical turn and further fleshing out the souls-like universe that their discography inhabits. Does Fierce Deity succeed in expanding upon this formula, or do we the listeners experience A Terrible Fate such as floundering among the inscrutable puzzles of the Water Temple seriously how many times am I going to have to cycle through the same three god damn rooms to get a single key OH FUCK IT’S THE SPIKY CLAMS AGAIN-
Water Temple rage aside, A Terrible Fate is a decidedly satisfying continuation of the sound on Power Wisdom Courage, utilizing chunky stoner metal riffs delivered with a meat-headed swagger gloriously intertwined with full-throated power metal vocals, all the while being stretched over long-form progressive song structures. The closest comparisons that come to mind are Vast Oceans Lachrymose by While Heaven Wept, which adds a progressive/power metal spin to doom metal, or Anubis Gate’s debut Purification, which similarly utilizes doom metal riffs in a power metal context. At first glance, power and stoner/doom are genres that are fundamentally at odds with each other, but like the above bands before them, Fierce Deity blends these genres remarkably well, the gritty chugging guitars working to augment the power and drama of Jonathon Barwick’s standout vocal performance.
A Terrible Fate demonstrates a welcome maturation of the sound presented on Power Wisdom Courage: compositions as a whole feel more cohesive, and the prevalent synthesizer sound has been sequestered to a few spare moments and is almost entirely replaced by a myriad of orchestration. Opener “Lev-i-arach” uses a choir pad to establish ambience before chugging riffs take over; “A Life of Hate” is introduced by an ominous cello underneath a scattered voice-over segment before Barwick lets out a classic power metal scream over high-energy riffs; and “Paralysis (Into the Wind)” luxuriates in whimsical orchestration over the majority of its runtime. There are also small atmospheric flourishes across A Terrible Fate that recall Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask sound effects, such as the digital chime at the end of “Lev-i-arach” reminiscent of pressing start on the title screen, the sound of giant stone doors opening on “Storm Temple,” or the ethereal humming peppered throughout both games that satisfyingly closes the album.
While the introduced textural variety is no doubt a boon, the vocal delivery and the guitar work demand the center of attention. When Barwick first shouts “Sand in your throat / in a far west desert land / where only dead men tread” on “Lev-i-arach,” I can’t help but headbang: it’s simply too catchy and too powerful, and the track maintains this energy throughout its entirety. “A Life of Hate” is the most playful with its grooves, using a simple but catchy foundation on the verses and switching it up with slightly more progressive staccato on the choruses and the bridge. Even the relatively subdued tracks like “Paralysis (Into the Wind)” and the title track can’t help but conclude with soaring moments that deliver a satisfying mix of power and drama. It’s impossible to take a step on A Terrible Fate without running into a killer vocal line or a tasty groove—the album is packed to the brim with both.
However, the guitar/vocal work is both the album’s greatest strength and greatest weakness. “Lev-i-arach” and “A Life of Hate” are a satisfying pummeling, but I find that my energy is quickly flagged after these opening tracks, and I’m in need of a break by the end. “Nekot’s Shrine” nearly works in this fashion with its floaty orchestral meandering, but it’s not quite compelling enough to work on its own and functions more as an introduction to “Storm Temple,” rendering it less effective as a palate cleanser. Moreover, while “Storm Temple” has many great riffs and vocal moments, there is a frustrating over-utilization of start-stop instrumentation that halts its momentum. A true respite doesn’t appear until “Paralysis (Into the Wind),” which begins with a similarly quiet atmosphere to “Nekot’s Shrine” but feels more compositionally fleshed out and offers something for the listener to sink their teeth into before leading to a grand and dramatic conclusion. The inclusion of a song like this earlier would have done wonders for the overall pacing, but the existence of “Paralysis” shows that a tasteful palate cleanser is well within Fierce Deity’s capabilities and makes me hopeful for future output.
There are very few unpleasant moments on A Terrible Fate and an impressive number of transcendent ones, but a slight misstep in pacing adds some difficulty to the listen as a whole. Once past the mid-album slog, though, A Terrible Fate proves why it simply can’t be ignored, with Jonathon Barwick taking a place as one of my favorite clean vocalists of the year. There is a lot of fun to be found here, and sure, you may get turned around a bit in the Water Temple on the way, but it’s wholeheartedly worth it for the Longshot at the end.
Recommended tracks: A Life of Hate, Lev-i-arach, Paralysis (Into the Wind)
You may also like: Early Anubis Gate, Spellcaster, While Heaven Wept, Conception
Final verdict: 7.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal Archives | RateYourMusic
Label: Independent release
Fierce Deity is:
– Jonathon Barwick (everything)
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