October Falls – A Collapse of Faith (2010)

October Falls is one of our favorite bands of all time and they have returned with their 3rd full-length album “A Collapse of Faith”. The band plays a mean mixture of Black/Dark Metal with Folk elements unlike anybody else these days, just imagine if early Ulver, Empyrium and Tehni had a genetically engineered of spring.

As in the same vein of “The Womb of Primordial Nature”, the band crafts epic songs that will transport you to a dark world filled with nature, helplessness and pain. All through a hefty dosage of distorted guitars, surgically precise drumming and majestic acoustic passages that will haunt you till the rest of your life. The atmosphere created for “A Collapse of Faith” is very haunting and unique, and when paired with M. Lehto’s shivering vocal performance you will surrender your soul to this majestic aural experience.

Having only 3 songs in this album, but yet clocking over 40 minutes of music, “A Collapse of Faith” is the band’s best work to date. The guitar riffing very repetitive, but intricate enough to grab your attention, the bass guitar pounds away through the whole experience but it never takes full charge. The drumming is very precise and intense when needed, creating the perfect pace for the onslaught of hellish screams and powerful riffs. But the little things that make this band shine are the small details folk-ish details that create the ‘nature’ feeling to this epic masterpiece.

The band’s ‘Metal’ foundation is very much similar to what you would expect from older Katatonia, As Divine Grace, etc., creating a very ‘Doomy’ feeling but with a particular edge that still allows the music to feel aggressive and fast. Each of the three songs have a similar feeling to each other, but they do have elements that sets them apart and keeps them interesting for the listener.

“A Collapse of Faith” is an experience that is truly worth of anybody that likes the previously mentioned bands, and it’s a fan of October Falls. With each album this band is growing into an unstoppable beast that can surely keep getting better and better with time.

Release: October 12th, 2010

Country: Finland