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FIRMAMENT
We Don’t Rise, We Just Fall

Dying Victims Productions (2023)
Rating: 7/10

It took me a while to get used to the vocals of Marco Herrmann but musically this is a very interesting heavy metal-cum-hard rock expression from a German band that I’d not been familiar with previously. There is no doubting the obscure nature of this debut full-length offering and the 70s influence is also clear as the five piece somewhat trundles through a batch of tracks which bring to mind the likes of Hällas, early Iron Maiden, and a general New Wave Of British Heavy Metal starkness that some, more picky individuals may find rather dull.

I decided to stick with this opus in spite of its lack of frills. After all, had this been released in 1981 it would have no doubt been overlooked, and I do have concerns that in 2023 with a glut of bands resorting to old school worship, this outing may still go under the radar of many. However, there is a certain charm in hearing this quintet amble somewhat nonchalantly through their parade of underwhelming rock oddities which come encased in an equally obscure album cover.

‘The Void’ is tightly musically but shambling vocally and ‘Dreams Of Misery’ has a crackle and fizz to its catchy axe work, while other notable tunes are the subtle ‘Live In The Night’, the stark plod of ‘Losing You’ and the loping groove of ‘No Future’. But all the tracks here create a bleak layer of mist upon the horizon and as this opus unravels one gets the sense of some mystical mid-80s Euro metal gloominess that is nary a whisper away from slipping into an unintentional doom metal vibe. Peculiar then is the best word to describe such a melancholic amble where sullen warbles drift awkwardly over pallid soundscapes.

Neil Arnold

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