Fogos - Corpses And Ash

Fogos are a black metal group from Spain that just formed last year. Despite being relatively new to the metal world, their style is a fast and furious more kvlt black metal in the vein of Carpathian Forest all the way to Watain with a bit of that black n’ roll vibe of Dodsferd. Overall, expect a lot of tremolo picking, voracious snarls, and non stop drumming as track after track keeps listeners on their toes and hammers them over and over. As said before, this album is fast; there isn’t any room for lush symphonics for the likes of Dimmu Borgir or the lo fi dissonant horrors of Deathspell Omega. This is just stripped down, basic, down and dirty black metal that will make fans of the late 90s pretty impressed.

Tracks like ‘Archeron’ and ‘Dysnomia’ are very guitar heavy and just storm right out the gate with no mercy. While every once in a while there is a bit of a mid paced lull the music never lets up much in the usual ‘kvlt’ fashion. The production is well enough that the vocals come across clear in their throaty rasp while the guitars and drums never get buried. Other tracks like ‘Mortis’ seem faster with the guitar pace but at the same time take a different approach to the drums with a slower deathmarch approach, drawing a bit of influence from older Marduk. ‘Khione’ follows suit with a similar approach, and it is by this point that the album might wear a bit on the ears as the music tends to start to sound the same as Fogos continues with their tried and true formula.

‘Caronte’ shakes things up a bit with a bit more of the black n’roll approach which features a lot more groove and a biting attitude that would make Nattefrost proud. The guitars even have a more melodic tone to them with their reverb that makes the track stand out compared to the others. ‘Exis’ takes a different approach on vocals for a more layered, more sinister approach. Eventually things slide back more towards what was heard on the first half of the album with tracks like ‘Nyx’ and the closing ‘Eidolon.’ Both strong fast black metal pieces but they don’t quite hold as many interesting factors as some of the mid album tracks. Ultimately, this album features lots of black metal tropes that have been heard before, but features enough raw elements to make any fan of fast paced metal enjoy “Corpses And Ash.” Very raw and without mercy.

3 / 5 STARS