The Giant’s Fall / An essential listen for Sludge/Stoner/Doom fans

Having cut his teeth, metaphorically speaking, as vocalist for Sludge/Stoner Metal outfit Lucky Funeral and vocalist/bassist for Stoner/Doom Metal Bone To Rust between 2007 and 2011, Mikebass then decided back in 2016 it was time to start a new project; a new musical journey, filled with new ideas, with jamming creating the biggest part of The Giant’s Fall’s self-titled debut album.

The Giant’s Fall – The Giant’s Fall (FYC Records)

Release Date: Feb 28

Words: Jools Green

The Giant’s Fall is an ancient story of dark ideas. The main theme of the album is Talos, an ancient Giant of Greek Mythology who was said to be an automaton made of bronze, made to protect Crete from pirates and invaders by circling the island’s shores three times, daily throwing stones at their ships and said to have been made by Hephaestus at the request of Zeus, to protect Europa from people who would want to kidnap her, his only weakness, his ankle, where the single vein containing all of his life-fluid (Ichor, the blood of the gods) sealed with a thin membrane of skin and that Medea, daughter of King Aeetes and wife of the mythical hero Jason exploited this weakness and killed Talos by bewitching him to graze his ankle on a sharp rock, about which, most of the tracks take their inspiration from.

It’s a five-track thirty-one-minute offering, melding elements of Doom, Drone and Stoner, manifesting, to the greater part, as a relaxing and reflective mix of slow riffs, psychedelic and dark ambient. A non-intrusive and very laid-back listen that engulfs you without smothering you, allowing you to reflect and contemplate. It’s interesting that he has decided to do an instrumental release, too, given his vocal abilities, but maybe they would have been too raw and rugged to work into this predominantly chilled offering, the only track with any spoken element being the penultimate piece, The Giant King, but I’ll come back to that at the end.

Opening with Ichor (the blood of the gods), a mesmerizingly slow and fuzzy beast that plods its way through with solid but gentle determination, with low haunting repeat bass lines permeating the quieter moments beneath a psychedelic melody.

The next piece Dark Inside, a ten-minute monster, has a very reflective atmosphere, maintaining the slow, largely singular drum beats that featured across the predecessor. There is also a slightly ominous aura to the otherwise gentle guitar work that courses across the fades out midway, returning in a very haunting and dark manner, that ominous aura building to unnerving proportions alongside drone and psychedelic elements. I love the unsettling quality to this track. It’s very expressive and suspenseful.

Hella Rock Festival

The End of Talos continues at its predecessor’s pace, with gently rumbling bass lines accompanying those singular beats merging into a very haunting drone section, with briefly the drum work becoming more rhythmic before turning more haunting and psychedelic. I love the build to this track in the second half, the keyboards adding a sense of unnerving despair, akin to fighting a losing battle, which is lost as the track fades out.

The final, brief piece Hades Calling is very psychedelic from the offset, with a subtle droning undercurrent.

Back to the penultimate piece, the slightly wildcard, The Giant King, which is musically in a similar vein reflecting all the past tracks in style, but heavier and cleverly creates a musical backdrop for Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech. It’s a psychedelic crusher with a little more emphasis on the bass work to add depth, to match the gravity of the speech.

The Giant’s Fall was composed, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered solely by Mikebass, an essential listen for Sludge/Stoner/Doom fans.

The Giant’s Fall is available digitally from Bandcamp or as a 4-Panel Digi CD Format, limited to 100 Copies (50 of them to be accompanied by Embroidered Logo Patch), from FYC Records, along with merch and item codes at https://fycrecords.com/distro Place your order by sending a message to the following mail: wrath_dodsferd@yahoo.gr.

Sleeve Notes

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