German black metal crew Farsot have lain fairly dormant since the release of 2011's Insects (save for a 2016 four-way split), and their heavily melodic, even more heavily atmospheric take on the genre has been sorely missed. When I say that they're "atmospheric," I'm not implying that they've ingested one too many shoegaze records or grew up outside Portland; rather, the atmosphere Farsot conjures coats each note with an overwhelming sense of darkness, eldritch unease, and quiet malevolence (and then recorded it all in a earthen cave dug deep underground a primeval forest). It's very much a throwback to the Second Wave acts that undoubtedly continue to inspire them, in that they have no problem reconciling the melodic and epic with the raw and downright spooky,FAIL·LURE is only the long-running Thuringian quintet's third full-length since their inception in 1999, and also marks their Prophecy Productions debut. The band's proggy impulses are on full display, but this is most certainly still a black metal record—it just happens to be one that keeps you guessing a bit without succumbing to full-bore wackiness.The band sent Noisey a statement, which read: "More towards the origins [of] Farsot. Create our very own mood between rough and rugged black metal temper of the early Nineties connected with an exploration of the infinite width of music itself. The approach is more spontaneous and intuitive, consciously refraining from "heady" leanings and patterns. This makes the songs appear even more compact and dynamic than ever before. Lyric-wise, FAIL·LURE addresses the inevitable dilemma between fascination and mania, desire and disgust, power and weakness – the seeming rift between the sexes. It is an allegory of life as a not endless game that cannot be won. This multi-layered concept is reflected musically on the album. The ambiance extends from the deepest depths to the highest heights without losing the relation to its uniformity. Get carried away…"Listen to FAIL·LURE in its moody, spiraling entirety below, and keep your eyes peeled for an April 21 release via Prophecy Productions.Kim Kelly is going dark on Twitter.
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