Style: Atmospheric black metal, progressive metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Harakiri for the Sky, Naglfar, Ellende
Review by: Francesco
Country: Germany
Release date: 14 October, 2022
Firtan released their third full-length at the end of September – their longest output yet, Marter clocks in at just shy of an hour of haunting, progressive, moody black metal. “Marter” is the German word for “torture” and truly a misnomer, for this album was anything but torture to listen to – in fact, it was probably the most enjoyment I’ve had from a black metal release since Austrians Harakiri for the Sky came out with Aokigahara in 2014. Firtar are honing their craft, and this album showcases some really coherent songwriting that will surely garner them more popularity in the European circuit.
The nature of Marter draws from its namesake and resonates with despair, anguish, agony. With songs inspired by dark German-language poetry from the turn of the 20th century, the atmosphere is bleak, oppressive, and the riffs are harsh and screaming, punctuated with restrained melodic passages of acoustic and clean guitars and soft violins that only last long enough to let you put your guard down before introducing further black metal brutality. The songs progress in creative ways; a slow build of momentum here, a calming effect there; a halt of percussion before the abrupt introduction of soloed palm-muted, tremolo-picked passages leading into a sudden flurry of double-kick. Firtan doesn’t discriminate with their placement of new elements; even 5 minutes into a 6-and-a-half-minute track, a dim clean guitar is introduced, arpeggiating over a roaring black metal verse that slowly fades out the song.
There were some really compelling sections on this album, like in the track “Menetekel”, where a haunting acoustic guitar passage is accompanied with a harrowing tormented vocal backed by speedy double-kick drumming and a melancholic reverberant clean guitar melody; it creates a dissonant, jarring impression. On another track, “Amor Fati”, they begin with echoing acoustic guitars backed by melodic ambient pad sounds over up-beat rock drumming, giving almost a post-rock feel that transitions into the melodic black metal sound that the album is mostly composed of.
The production is clear and the dynamics balanced well; the contrast between the black metal arrangements and the somber acoustic or more atmospheric parts was sharp and evocative, and the expression of such moods by the guitarists Phillip and Chris, and keyboardist (Phillip again) are difficult to find fault in. With that said, however, there were some of the more “visionary” sequences I took issue with. Of the eight tracks on Marter, four end with a dropping of the black metal instrumentals into a more atmospheric sound that incorporates synth, before eventually fading out. I noticed the latter half of the release is replete with these moments, and it felt a bit tired. The way Firtan pushed genre boundaries and innovated in the songwriting has certainly made Marter a captivating album, but if lengthy runtime are to be the norm, they should take more care in future to avoid potentially coming across as formulaic.
Recommended tracks: Menetekel, Fadir, Parhelia
You may also like: Ante-Inferno, Thormesis, Horn
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: AOP Records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook
Firtan is:
– Phillip Thienger (vocals. guitars, keyboards)
– Chris S. (guitars)
– Oliver König (bass)
– David Kempf (drums)
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