FANGE – Privation
Release Date: 10th March 2023
Label: Throatruiner Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Industrial, Death, Sludge.
FFO: LLNN, Doodseskader, Hangmans Chair, Alec Empire.
Review By: John Newlands
Fange is a hard hitting industrial, sludge outfit from Rennes, France. The quartet have released 3 previous full length albums, with this current release being the first to fully abandon acoustic drums in favour of drum machines/ programming and synths along with guitar and bass.
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not an expert in anything industrial, but I dabble here and there and when I heard single À La Racine, I was totally up for checking out the full release, and I’m glad I did.
Privation is a really well executed example of how industrial flavours can be applied to accentuate, elevate and in some ways improve on what can seem like a somewhat stagnant genre such as sludge.
This is not for the cyber goths out there. Nope, definitely no neon dreadlocks or glowsticks allowed here, this is at times a cold, hard, full-on fist to the face that feels like there are some post-punk / hardcore influences on the band. The production feels cold, brutal, and I have to nod to Metal Epidemic leaders Dave and Duncan on this one…it sounds French.
Vocals on the album are a stand-out, the guy sounds angry, really angry, and he wants you to know it. No gutturals, pig squeals or the likes here, there is the aforementioned hardcore feel to lead vocalist Matthias Jungbluth’s delivery that works really well with the industrial aspects of the tracks.
That said, the band also knows when to dial it back, add a touch of warmth, some clean vocal and melody. Female guest vocals feature on Né Pour Trahir by Cindy Sanchez (Lisieux, Candélabre) and Cédric Toufouti of Hangman’s Chair provides guest vocals on Portes D’Ivoire. Both these tracks are actually standouts for me, along with the aforementioned opening track, À La Racine.
The guitars sound great on this release, they deliver clear and concise punishing riffs when required, but also remain organic. I’m sure I picked up on some clean guitar work, which was a nice surprise for this genre and offered some different textures to the tracks.
I think my only complaint about this release is the lack of organic drums and overuse of industrial noises. I am all for the use of programming and drum machines, but some sounds here became quite linear and repetitive. There was overuse of certain industrial/mechanical /glitching sound effects and programmed drum sounds (especially a snare), that are used throughout the entirety of the release that, to be honest, became a bit annoying. The use of these noises and drum sounds became a distraction in some listening situations, such as in my car or on a certain pair of headphones. I must say, that in other instances the sounds were less prominent and the release was more enjoyable. However, for my taste, I feel that fewer industrial noises and synthetic industrial drums could lend more to the tracks.
That said, Privation was a pleasant surprise for me and Ill most likely give this one further listens should an industrial sludge itch ever need to be scratched throughout 2023.
(3 / 5)
