Falloch – Where Distant Spirits Remain (2011)

As one of the most beautifully crafted releases of 2011, today we have Falloch’s debut album “Where Distant Spirits Remain”. Featuring 7 tracks of emotional atmospheric post rock/Metal with shoegaze and Black Metal, this release is set to take the scene by surprise due to its intricate design and flawless execution. If you are a fan of bands like Les Discrets, Alcest, Wolve in the Throne Room, Lantlos, etc, you will be blown away by the quality of this album.

Formed by Andy Marshall and Scott McLean in Glasgow, Scotland, this very young and promising band has managed to capture both emotional landscapes and beautiful imagery through highly atmospheric and nostalgic music. With an emotional layer of vocal styles paired with dreamy guitars and ethereal atmospheric elements, “Where Distant Spirits Remain” is one of those albums that you will not be able to put away after one listen.

Opening with the powerful riffing, “We are the Gathering Dust” hints of a few Primordial influences just before the one minute mark when the ethereal vocals and atmosphere is introduced. With a nice atmospheric passage in the middle of the song, this track evolves into an Alcest-like closing that is truly majestic. “Beyond Embers and the Earth” has a more aggressive nature, with the guitars reaching Black Metal-like levels, but with the calm vocals to beautifully contrast them. Alternating slower sections makes the structure of this song very well rounded and a truly emotional rollercoaster.

The interlude “Horizons” delivers a nice calming ethereal track that builds momentum for yet another brilliant song. “Where We Believe” has to be our favorite song due to the natural progression the music takes, following some of the atmospheric elements of “Horizons”. This track delivers a combination of aggressive riffing with ethereal guitars and amazing passages that bring the music to life. “The Carrying Light” is the most Post-Rock/Metal-ish / Shoegaze-ish track of this release and is very well crafted to never get dull and keep the momentum going through several tempo changes.

To close down this majestic release we have “To Walk Amongst the Dead” and “Solace”, the first track delivers 10 minutes of a mixture of all the elements present in the first few songs and some string instruments that add to the richness of the band’s sound. As one would expect, “Solace” is a bleak instrumental piece that will give the listener time to reflect on the album and surely decided that he wants to play it all over again.

In a truly magical manner, “Where Distant Spirits Remain” will surely blow you away with its perfectly crafted songs. Falloch is definitely one of those bands that have so much potential to keep improving over the year and delivering albums that will make you appreciate the beauty of music once more.

Release: September 27th, 2011

Country: Scotland