Three seasoned, live musicians got together back in 2019 as an outlet for material that guitarist/vocalist Kyle Tayler had originally written for another band, which had split before the songs could come to fruition. The resulting collaboration became melodic Blackened Death Metal outfit Falamh, with their first four-track EP, The Unbound Beyond: I, dropping in 2020.
Falamh – Aeons Effigy (Independent release)
Release Date: 25 March 2022
Words: Jools Green
The trio, consisting of Kyle, plus David Strba, guitars, backing vocals and Kye Bell, bass, along with guest drummer Tyler Chartrand of Empyrian Plague, return with their follow up EP Aeons Effigy. Their current aim is to deliver something more memorable with a stage presence, and with this hugely atmospheric four-track offering which spans a generous twenty-three minutes, I think they may have succeeded.
“The concept for this EP,” Kyle told MetalTalk, “is about the journey and discovery of oneself and the transformation effects that occur. Whether steadfast or yielding, change is always inevitable, and how someone reacts can determine the perspective and outcome. The lyrics reflect this by telling tales of different characters and how their reaction affects them.”
They usually incorporate personal experiences under the guise of various forms of mysticisms. Sometimes they also tell a kind of story or journey.
The first two tracks were both released as singles and are available to view/listen below.
The opener, Winds Of Silence, is lyrically about perseverance and being resolute to any obstacles before you. A slow but dark driving plodder, when the raw acerbic blackened vocals kick in, they add an icy atmosphere to the dark, bleak melody that courses through the track. The pace drops away briefly midway through and takes on a more reflective mood.
Kyle Tayler described the other single, Blackened Waves, as the story of a near-death experience of someone being lost in a storm at sea and drowning, only to ascend alive with a newfound purpose. It has a bleak, almost funereal atmosphere at times where the riffs take on a repeating hypnotic chug, and you do sense that lost at sea feeling. At the same time, it’s an immersive listen that you can just drift along with and enjoy.
Benighted Weald tells a tale of someone cursed by the forest and no longer destined for this world, an intense acidic number punctuated with clean, quiet passages which add a good contrast.
The EP closes on Aethereal Forger, which lyrically looks at a world being covered in fire in a Ragnarok style event with no one being able to stop it—haunting to open but developing into the most intense driver of the EP.
The whole EP is very reflective, atmospheric and easy to listen to, with the first two tracks, Winds of Silence and Blackened Waves, standing out as favourites with me.
Pre-order – Falamh.bandcamp.com
