Forsaken – After The Fall

To the already accustomed to Maltese foursome FORSAKEN, it comes as no surprise that they change their overall recording timbre with each new CD, yet preserving their heavy trademark of doom off course.
 Henceforth, their 4th full-length After the Fall - seemingly a concept story of good vs evil – opens with the dirgy film-like Tenebrarum intro, then seaming into Aidenn Falls, probably FORSAKEN’s most catchy song since Where Angels have Fallen (off their 1993 Virtues of Sanctity 7”), with solos aplenty splashing from speaker to speaker. This track’s hook simply keeps returning to one’s head even the day after you listen to the CD, making one whistle it and play air guitar to it unconsciously to only realize half-way through – definitely music to be played loud on a home stereo and not on iPods, unless you want to be passed on for one of those white collar madman using their in-ear mobile technology


And in fact the many hooks this CD’s individual tracks come armoured with are what partly identify After the Fall’ s character. I say partly as the school of guitar harmonies interlocking Simeon’s heavier drum parts (intermittently even double kicks long absent in FORSAKEN’s helm) cannot be undermined, both factors even upping FORSAKEN’S ante a bit further on this release.


On such a carpet of fine musicianship, doom icon Leo cannot go wrong with his euphonius refrains to bassist Al’s script this time around tracing humanity's fall through a downward spiral into oblivion until the Father offers sinners a final chance for redemption and glory. A lyrical concept made justice with the rifferama journey along this CD – the morose yet catchy Aidenn Falls, gravity dragging Vanguards of the Void leading into ultimate headbanger Armida’s Kiss hitting like a sudden sunrise into a dark cave of perdition with its mid-bridge transposition that blasts mountains by one single note, The Sage so monolithic that I bet even Tony Iommi would kneel in reverence to it, calling Leif Edling to headbang next to him on Dies Irae before Metatron and the Mibor Mythos uplifts all still on this journey to another ether world. To the point that although the victory of good over evil is venerated, one cannot but pull one’s horns up to the sky on most tracks here! A wall of riffs so grand that the borrowed riff off Dominaeon’s Wretched of the Earth for 3rd track here Sin of the Tempter – hehe, even singing the former song’s lyrics fits quite smoothly, if I might tease :P – is easily forgiven.


Undiscussably “a wall of riffs & melodies” is 6 words how to tag this After the Fall! And with such an undisputed backline powerhouse, not even the experiment of having the guitarist record all guitars instead of their usual producer/engineer (thus reeking of simulated vs real amp tone, albeit benefiting of his best solos ever, improved inner ear and a higher degree phrasing versatility) could have FORSAKEN go wrong. Again it is hard to pinpoint a best FORSAKEN album, as they are all killer!


This is FORSAKEN – an ever-flowing well of metal rifferama with a quality due to its heartfelt honesty, and a supremacy owing to its undying cause for doom! In a nutshell, one of the iconoclasts of doom metal worldwide! Makes me recall myself 4-5 years back at their gig asking for the refrain of that then new song with that HAQQ GHALL-MADONNA riff!


And even if FORSAKEN’s experience to many non-Maltese might be alien, fortuitious in how such heaviness forths its towering magniloquence from the less known tiny island Malta, had I to look inward into my experience, I know, I understand, I live the very heaviness that makes Maltese blood strike out given the chances and support, with FORSAKEN being but one of the slow-paced stalwarts of the rock. Doom on brothers, and rise the flag of Maltese metal! Against all odds HAQQ GHALL-LIBA OSTJA! (u viva l-malvizz).

1. Tenebrarum (intro)
2. Aidenn Falls 05:34
3. Sins of the Tempter
4. The Lord Sayeth
5. Vanguards of the Void
6. Armida's Kiss
7. The Sage
8. Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)
9. Metatron and the Mibor Mythos
I Hate Records
Reviewer: necrogool
Jun 26, 2009

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