Thy Feeble Saviour is a two piece out of Texas who play some seriously dirty blackened crust. Or is it crusty black metal? While I’m a big fan of organization and lists and categories, does this really need to be pigeon holed into a sub-sub-genre? Here’s what you need to know: And Darkness Fell is 14 tracks spread across 29 minutes. If you’ve been around the block, those stats should sum up what to expect from this release. It’s fast, propelled by very tight drumming which incorporates a fantastic mix of blast beats, precise fills and crashing symbols. The guitar tone is crunchy and the bass, when given room to breathe, is fuzzy and thick. Vocals are stellar, but I’ll get into that further down.

The first thing you’ll notice is that, while the album is well mixed, the overall master level was turned down a few notches. It’s one of those albums where you really have to crank up the volume to hear it. This isn’t an issue if it’s the only thing you’ll be listening to, but quickly becomes speaker and ear-destroying if it’s part of a playlist and the follow up album starts before you get to the volume knob! The only thing I would have adjusted in the booth would be to give the kick drum a little more oomph. It’s a very mild complaint that probably wouldn’t register on someone’s radar unless you pointed it out.

There are two vocal styles here: low, gruff, guttural and higher pitch shrieks and rasps. These are “vocals” in the sense that a human throat is producing sound into a microphone. They’re perfect and one of the highlights of the album. The quality of the lyrical content is a moot point as there isn’t a single discernible word in the entire play time. Vocals here are just another instrument which adds to the overall feel of the record. As a brief aside: I can’t overstate how picky I am when it comes to vocals – particularly black metal shrieks and the like. I’ve tossed countless albums into the recycle bin 15 seconds in to the first track because the vocals are put too high in the mix. “Purist” black metal bands, inparticular, need to knock that crap off. Have a competent producer listen to the final mix and then bump the vocals (or should I say “vokills” *slow jerk off motion*) down 30%.

Stylistically, it’s not all blast beats and insanity. In fact, opening track “Corpse of the Crucified”, is a prime example of what to expect of the album as a whole: 13 seconds of face melting grind drumming and blistering shrieks, followed up by midpaced, head bobbing, crunchy rhythm guitar and guttural bellows for the remainder of the minute long track. Honestly, I love the pacing of this album. Every few minutes you get a chance to catch your breath and break your neck with headbanging riffs, and that’s really what keeps me coming back for more: each song has at least one or two parts where I reach over and crank up the volume knob and head bang, either in the bedroom or the car! I really love this release and I encourage anyone with an affinity for acts like Nasum or December Wolves (remember them?) to check this out.

[Visit the band's website]

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