“A hierophant – a word I was dimly aware of but confess that I had to look up – is a person who leads the religious into the presence of that which is deemed holy by the relevant congregation. It also a card in the tarot deck and at least one of its meanings is that of a teacher or counselor who aids the seeker in the acquisition of knowledge. Both of these meanings are wholly appropriate for Bay Area trio Forlesen’s debut, Hierophant Violent. I would estimate that, since beginning my tenure serfdom here at AMG, my musical consumption has increased by upwards of 80% and I was listening to a lot before I started. And yet it’s rare indeed that an album hits me like Hierophan Violent did.” Elephantine Hierophant.
Fós
Fós – Rinne mé iarraidh Review
“Prior to this review, you could have jotted down what I knew about sean-nós singing on the back of a postage stamp and still had most of the stamp free for other notes. Still, we are where we all are and probably only Fós, a collaboration between Irish singer Orla Cadden Patel and multi-instrumentalist Fionn Murray, have much right to feel aggrieved. Sean-nós turns out to be a traditional form of Irish singing. Typically unaccompanied, the singing is highly ornamented in terms of melodic style and the lyrics often deal in laments and tales of historic events. That description does not, perhaps, suggest it as the obvious partner for electronica-driven drone but then, as I always try to explain to non-metal friends and colleagues who ask (and usually regret doing so), one of the things I love about metal is its seemingly endless ability to blend genres and influences.” Luck o’ the Irish.