Album number 3 for mastermind Ola Englund’s brainchild Feared. Some of you may recognize Ola as a member of Six Feet Under. And while a fair amount of outsourcing was done on the most recent Six Feet Under album (reviewed here), Feared is Ola’s band where he is the only songwriter. Music and almost all the lyrics come from him. He is joined by vocalist Mario Ramos, and fellow Six Feet Under member/ drummer Kevin Talley for this album. So, let’s see what the Swede has done shall we…
A slow and short (but sweet) acoustic passage opens the album on ‘Live in You’. Then it’s off to the races with Talley dropping a roll, Mario screaming in pain and Ola playing some crushing guitars. His tone is rather nice too, not overly clean or dirty. Almost has what I would call a “dirge-y” sound to it. The drums are clear and the vocals are screamed with moderate clarity. The melodic break in 'Live in You' shows a gorgeous solo that flows and weaves its way around everything else. ‘Psycho Logic’ is a lesson in groove, well played, and all in a locked motion. A song you can bang your head too. Feared really keep this motive throughout most the record. Music that at times is overtly aggressive, and at times moderately clean, all mixed very well.
‘Satan’ has a nice chorus to it; oddly enough it has clean vocals in it (odd choice for a song called ‘Satan’). ‘Neverlasting’ is one of, if not the, most aggressive songs on the album. Starting out simple and eventually adding blast beats and overlapping string bends. The solo on this song is also very soaring as all the rest on the album. But it’s the later half of the solo that stands out as it’s played over a vengeful sounding rhythm. ‘Forever Old’ is a very up and down track, mixing emotions back and forth in the guitars and overall tone of the music. But there are a few subtle parts I didn’t hear on first listen, note bends and the like. Brief instrumental ‘End’ closes out the album as a guitarist's dream, smooth licks abound.
If I had one complaint about this album, it would be that the solos at times are almost too clean. I myself do enjoy clean guitar playing, but a solo (in my opinion, at least) needs to sound like it's about to fly off the damn hinges now and then. But, that is a minor gripe on a well written and executed album. You can find this album by going straight to the source, on the bands own website. Support musicians and artists you enjoy and believe in.
HAIL!!!
