Fog Wall - Gloomweaver

Fog Wall is a death metal band from Reno, Nevada who have hit the scene with this rock-solid debut full-length album, “Gloomweaver.”  The band is composed of Zax Brady (vocals) and Alex Malmquist (vocals, bass), also from the band SandVVitch.  Guest/session musicians are Shagrat "Quincy" Gorbag (guitars) Logan Griggs (drums) and Loretta Hewitt (Synthesizer).

Lyrically, this album centers around fantasy worlds from Tolkien and From Software’s video game lineup.  Nerd death metal?  Hell yeah!   But this isn’t mere goofball video game music—this is a deadly serious album with impressive musicianship and brutal (but clever) songwriting. 

Production wise, it sounds modern without being too glossy and shiny.  I like the mix a lot especially because the bass can be heard easily–which is good because this is a very bass centered album.  Bass is probably what I would say is the most important element in any rock/metal-based genre and it’s straight up insane how little a lot of bands seem to understand that. 

The press release’s FFO section mentioned The Black Dahlia Murder—pretty damn accurate.  The bands don’t sound alike but they share the high/low death metal vocal approach.  It’s an infectious element to “Gloomweaver,” and makes the songs far catchier than music this brutal usually is.  No complaints about that!    As the album title would suggest, the atmosphere of the album is doom and gloom—very dark, oppressive and fully embracing the horrors found in their lyrical inspiration.  

“Manor of Ensnarement,” opens with some THICK bass and rumbling guitars.  The drops are massive and make the speedy marks all the more potent when they are born out of them.  The riffs can get pretty intricate, not in a prog way, but the band definitely isn’t here to just hammer constantly.  The breakdowns in the middle passage hit hard and fast, complimented by the vocal savagery.  

The guitar/bass tone on “Mazarbul (Desolation),” hangs over the atmosphere with a lead heavy weight—get a good pair of headphones and this song will straight up drown your brain.  The slower tempo breakdowns are crazy—it’s almost like the riffs are soaking into the senses and then burst out with moments of aggressiveness.  The use of synths in this song is very subtle but add volumes to it. 

The band is at their best when they are firing on all cylinders and just let the brutality loose, such as on “Belching Black Vapours.”  The vocals rip through, backed by the instruments which offer a nonstop beatdown.   The song has a lot of rising tension and grows more chaotic as it goes, with the last couple minutes a giant battering ram that pushes a wall of sound to the next level.

But wait!  There’s more!  Remember when I said “Belching Black Vapours,” was brutal?  I lied.  Well, I didn’t.  But “Frantic Orb Wielder,” makes that song seem like love songs at a picnic.  This is a 2 minute and 41 second face melter.  The bass is amazing—both frantic and hypnotic.  The vocals match that frenzy while the double bass absolutely destroys the playing field.  This song is pure energy, pure death metal.  

The final song, “Traverse,” has some of the best riffs (and drumming) on the album.  The atmosphere is, once again, subtly enhanced by the synths and I love the little details like that.  This song seems very towering, as if the band is playing right next to me.  The slower parts are menacing, their deep tones just burying themselves into my senses.  The melodic parts are perfectly integrated, never taking away from the finality the song brings into question.

Fog Wall’s, “Gloomweaver,” is a solid debut album from a band that seemingly came out of nowhere—definitely a nice surprise.  Fans of modern death metal that embraces and old school mentality will find much to like here because the album embraces its influences while still being very much its own entity.

Rating: Solid