Non Pietatem Erit

Spain is one of those countries that I don’t appreciate so much the quality of their scene, so I haven’t searched it so much. As it’s happening also in many other scenes, every now and then, releases appear that they attract the listener’s attention. Other times these releases really have an awesome, music experience to offer, while other times they end up as a big disappointment. “Non Pietatem Erit” is the first release of a new band from Spain called Fathomhell, which was formed in 2010 and they consist of two members. So, the EP contains four compositions and two intros of twenty five minutes of total duration. Musically, Fathomhell are playing fast and aggressive Scandinavian Black Metal.

The riffs have the characteristic style and atmosphere of the Scandinavian scene, fast, tremolo riff with dark atmosphere, violent passages and beautiful thrashy parts. We also come across to slow parts in the album with depressing – black atmosphere while there are riffs with the technic of disharmonic melodies, which show their influences by another Black Metal sound. The riffs have much variety as the tracks evolve and they are quite interesting and inspired, although that they remind a lot of the sound I mentioned above, surely they don’t copy it. The guitars are clean and played very well, delivering the riffs with accuracy, passion and power that they force the listener to listen them carefully. The bass is distinctive, in some parts its lines aren’t audible, but it fills the sound well and it offers to the compositions the depth that they need.

Unfortunately, this is another album that hasn’t got a real drummer, something that will annoy a lot of people, for sure. However the truth is that the band has programed the drum machine quite well and its sound isn’t bad. The only thing that is missing is the liveliness of a real drummer. The vocals are harsh, dark and most of the times whispering Black Metal vocals which fit a lot to the style of the compositions. The production is bassy and a little fuzzy, but without ruining the atmosphere or annoying the listener. The mixture is very good as there is depth to the composition, the sound of drum machine is filled by the sound of the bass and generally the compositions are very massive. The lyrics are written in English and they are not contained in the promo that I received while by the few things that I understood they deal with death, hell, evil.

The first self-financed release of the Spanish Fathomhell made a good impression to me. For sure we have to pay attention to the very beautiful riffs and the interesting structure of the tracks. If the production was better and the drums were real, it would be a very good album. I suggest you to listen to it but listen it before you buy. It is a good effort coming by a scene which shows improvements.