You may recently have heard the name Ola Englund in death metal circles, as he is the guitarist on the latest Six Feet Under release, Unborn (but don’t hold that against him or Feared), but he has been messing around with other bands for a few years, mostly Feared which has been around since 2010 and released 2 albums (and one redo). However, this is my first exposure to the band, and I have to say I’m pretty impressed.

Though Ola’s project, there’s almost an all star vibe to the band as he’s joined by Demonoid vocalist Mario Ramos, drummer Kevin Tally (who needs no introduction) and another Six Feet Under performer, bassist Jeff Hugnall, (as well as a few guest solos from Scar Symmetry‘s Per Nillson) Feared‘s sound is one that mixes grooving thrash metal and melodic death metal into an impressive, hefty and utterly groove laden mix beast that culls from the likes of Gorefest, Hypocrisy, Machine Head, Pantera and Infernal era Edge of Sanity. So take that as you will, depending on your like or disdain for those acts. The production is perfect, fitting the chunky, thick riffs to a tee.

With Ramos providing the more death metal based vocals (which often come across like Swano on Infernal and Akerfeldt’s Bloodbath vocals at times), Ola Englund drives the band with chunky, catchy riffs that could have been used to liven up the disappointing Unborn. Furor Incarnatus isn’t particularly innovative or challenging, but it hits every note with satisfying heft and burly melody that should satiate fans of pure riffs. For example, second standout track “Breathing Failure” (which reminds me of Gorefest‘s “Fear”) is monster of a foot-tapping groover, cementing the bands style pretty early on. Then “Psycho Logic” (which I initially thought might be a cover of Pantera‘s “Mouth For War”) takes a more choppy thrash tangent before “Vintersol” staggers and lurches with aplomb and the start of “Possessed” adds a more urgent, blasting sound.

“Satan” is a bit of a mid album break, being more steady, mid paced thrash number and some OK clean vocals. But another of the album’s standouts, “Warbound” rumbles and chugs before a surprising acoustic segue leads into a big atmospheric break that could have come from one of Hypocrisy‘s sci fi epics. Another killer track, “Devil in White” is the albums most complete tack, with a thick opening groove, a blast beat and some meaty, tight riffs all coming together in perfect metal synchronicity. “Neverlasting” has a nice gallop and canter mixed in with the blustery grooves and yet another surprising acoustic break. “Impending Doom” features a stern Lamb of God like stomp and Opeth-ian break that works well before “Forever Old” lopes into view with one of the albums more impressive grooves before closing instrumental “End” fades the album out on a relaxing note.

Feared‘s Furor Incarnatus will be one of the more under the radar sleeper hits of the year, and I’m surprised a label like Century Media or Nuclear Blast hasn’t jumped on this yet, considering the sound and the ties the band has. But based on musical merit alone, Furor Incarnatus stands confidently across multiple metal genres and and bodes well for a very promising future.

[Visit the band's website]

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