After five years, Fuath is back with a second album.
Created in 2015 by Andy Marshall (all instruments/vocals, Saor), the scottish musician offers us II, recorded with the help of Carlos Vivas (drums, Bloodhunter, ex-Hiranya, ex-Ocelon).
Fuath’s music is mainly based on an ice-cold Atmospheric Black Metal with melancholic accents, but some parts make me think of some Folk roots. We can feel it since Prophecies, the first song, that throws us at full speed into a wave of blackness on which the vocalist also offers airy clean backing vocals, but mainly howlings from the grave. Dissonance is also fully part of this composition of which final percussions add Pagan elements, then the majestic The Pyre are next. A different ambience, mainly bringed by colder riffs and more soaring leads, but howlings are never this far, and the blacken this mystical atmosphere before letting it shroud us. Once again, percussions come to close the song, this time accompanied by keyboards and strange vocals.
Into the Forest of Shadows relinks with those sharp melodies, this raw sound and this infernal fastness that carries us to the pace of leads and blast. The rhythmic slows down to let place a strange clean sound under energetic percussions, then an Old School pattern comes back, like on the too joyful Essence, a very contrasted song. We feel that blackness isn’t far, but the rhythmic is catchy, and the airy leads finally drive us to intense riffs full of emotions in which we are easily caught. Out mind gets lost into those piercing keyboards and those threatening gruntings, then Endless Winter is next. Once again, some coldness and distance settle in, letting the musician unveiling its Old School rhythmic and its unholy melodies, while the blast steamroller and the screaming bass give strength to a fast rhythmic. The song seems to never falter then suddenly ends, letting the void complete the work.
Fuath’s influences are as dark as interesting. II is clearly inspired by Old School tones, but also by unholy melodies, Folk parts and an oppressing ambience, which makes it an excellent pick to enter the band’s universe.
90/100