FANGE – Perdition
Release Date: 9th February (Digital) 23rd February (Physical)
Label: Throatruiner Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Industrial, Sludge, Doom with a hint of goth.
FFO: LLNN, NIN, Death Engine.
Review By: John Newlands
Hard hitting newly turned industrial French outfit FANGE are back with a new release, Perdition. Where the last release Privation explored loss & absence, this recent offering explores the state of eternal punishment. Cherry stuff then! This is the second release that the quartet have released in which they chose to abandon acoustic drums in favour of drum machines/ programming and synths.
For this latest release, I noticed FANGE have moved further away from their original sludge / hardcore roots and towards more goth and doom inspired industrial tones, which works really well. Songwriting and track composition has also seen a marked improvement, indicating the band is settling in nicely to their new sound. All instrumentation sounds bold, thick and punchy and is mixed very well. The release is self recorded and produced, so hats off to the guys in FANGE for their efforts.
I was happy to find that Perdition dials somewhat back on the “industrial” samples found on the last album. The glass breaking noises, mechanical pressure hiss and glitching samples that were prominent in the mix and quite distracting in some listening situations with previous release Privation are still present but delivered more subtly. Where a band like LLNN use self created field samples to create harsh industrial otherworldly samples, those found on Perdition and Privation could feel like “stock” industrial machine noises and samples found on drum machines and keyboards, which with repeated use could come across a bit ubiquitous and boring. That said, the track pacing and length of Perdition saves the listener from being overly fatigued by these sounds, none of the tracks overstay their welcome, and I’ve found myself spinning the album twice back to back on a number of occasions before moving onto something else.
Perdition further explores the use of clean vocals, guitars and guests, Diane Pellotieri (Pencey Sloe) and Olivier Guinot (Lodges) both of which fit exceptionally into the guest tracks and adds a welcome change in tone and texture to the album. Stand out tracks for me were both of these with guest vocals (Toute Honte Beu and Désunion Sacrée) along with album openers Césarienne Au Noir and Mauvais Vivant.
I think my only real complaint about Perdition is the lack of organic drums and percussion. Listening further back into the bands back catalogue, I do much prefer the new direction they have chosen to take. The songwriting has vastly improved and production is much better, however, I can’t help but wish that they could have changed their style but also retained the use of some organic drums and percussion.
Perdition is definitely another step forward in the evolution of FANGE and is a really enjoyable listen. I have great respect for the band for changing direction and continually challenging themselves and exploring new sounds. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next.
(4 / 5)
