About a year after announcing their name change from Menhir to Farer, the Dutch post-metallic noise trio will make their full-length debut Nov. 20 with Monad on Tartarus Records and Aesthetic Death Records. And for those who have followed them from that past incarnation to the new one, I’ll just note that we’re a long way away from “Mt. Aloha,” though even that song and video held a component of social commentary. Monad might too in its four-track/52-minute run, but one certainly would have to dig deeper in order to find it through the assault of sometimes caustic noise. Taking cues from vocally from the most biting moments of The Body and incorporating a bit of ritualism from European post-metal touchstones Amenra in the chants of the subsequen “Asulon” (14:19), “Phanes” opens Monad at 13:07 with as much crush of atmosphere as tone, duly bleak and draining.

The two songs together, “Phanes” and “Asulon” comprise a punishing side A, and while there’s some measure of letup within the tracks as Farer weave into and out of ambient stretches, even these are tense ahead of the explosion to come, an air of cerebral violence worked into the material that’s brutal in concept and patient in execution. To complement, “Moros” (12:10) and “Elpis” (13:04) flesh out their own blends of the harsh and sublime. In “Moros,” a line of keys or effects echoes horns atop a chugging low end, and as “Phanes” already brought Monad‘s “Stones From the Sky” moment — that most clarion of Neurosis riffs showing up transformed to suit Farer‘s needs — the band seems to relish in the subsequent freedom to explore beyond genre reaches. Tribal-esque drums cap “Moros” and bring the feedback-laced punishment of the first half of “Elpis,” as well as the crushing punishment of the second half — they play both kinds of music: punishing and punishing — the final march outward fading as it goes, leaving long echoes and a concluding dronescape.

It is a wonder how something with so much breadth can also feel claustrophobic, but such is anxiety and one need not look far to find it this week. “Phanes” has a formidable task in setting the tone of Monad, but in its patient sense of psychic break, there isn’t so much salvation as understanding to be had, and if you’ve ever felt like the bad voice is chasing you around the room, you already know that understanding has cathartic value.

PR wire info follows the video below.

Please enjoy:

Farer, “Phanes” official video premiere

The video for Phanes is a sprawling tryptic; A moving abstract brutalist painting showing corruption, atrophy and passing. It showcases an intricate relationship between creation and destruction, in which unnatural parasitic structures come into the inevitable collision with the sublunary.

Shots by Farer
Editing Arjan van Dalen
Special thanks to Dianne and Thijs

Shot at landartworks ‘RIFF, PD#18245’ & ‘Deltawerk’ , Flevoland / NL, and in nature reserve ‘Peazemerlannen’ , Friesland / NL

Dutch doom/noise trio Farer create an imposing discord of severe, caustic bass textures, harrowing vocals and winding drums. The band, featuring members of Ortega, was originally founded as MENHIR in 2013, but chose Farer as their new moniker mid 2019, after spending two and a half years of writing and recording their debut record Monad. By taking time to further explore the possibilities of being a band with two bass players and the absence of a guitar, the record exhibits the bands evolution into a new entity thoroughly. Meaning, carefully crafted, drawn-out, oppressive and compelling songs.

Out of nothing, nothing becomes.

Farer is:
Frank de Boer – Bass/Vocals
Arjan van Dalen – Bass/Vocals
Sven Jurgens – Drums/Percussion

Farer on Thee Facebooks

Farer on Instagram

Farer on Bandcamp

Tartarus Records webstore

Aesthetic Death Records webstore

Seems like maybe it’s the best case scenario imaginable when the work you’re doing changes who you are so much that you need to find a new collective identity to present it. Thus it is that Groningen, the Netherlands, trio Menhir have become Farer. The band formed in 2012 had two EPs to their credit under the now-former moniker, and the story goes that during the writing process for their first full-length they felt that the direction the material was taking warranted a shift in name. Sounds simple enough, right? I have to wonder though what that will actually translate to in terms of sound. You might recall Tartarus Records released their 2014 Uberlith II tape (discussed here) in an actual plaster brick, and its follow-up, 2016’s Hiding in Light, in a block of solid rubber. Good fun all around.

And more to come next year, it would seem, as Farer make their debut. Details are scant on that beyond the existence of such a thing, but here’s the announcement of the name change anyhow as per the PR wire, and a snippet posted on Farer‘s Bandcamp that proffers plenty of foreboding atmosphere:

Doom/noise trio MENHIR finishes recording new record; changes name into Farer

The past two and a half years the Dutch doom/noise trio MENHIR spent most of their time writing new songs for the band’s debut full-length. The record, which is set to be released next year, is recorded, mixed and at the time of writing being mastered.

The band has chosen to go further using a new moniker: Farer. “Our new material is such a far cry from the stoner/sludge we started out with as MENHIR. It is a different beast now,” explains Frank, one of the bass players of the band. “We are still making heavy and compelling music, but doing it from a very different approach. The band has evolved into a different entity and needed a new banner. In a way, it marks the beginning of a new chapter”.

At the moment, the band can’t give away too many details. “However, what you can expect are drawn-out, oppressive and compelling songs. Like we mentioned before, as far as style, atmosphere, and composition one can talk of a definite style change. We went so much further.

We worked together with photographer/artist Niels Verwijk again as well, who made beautiful original work for the album”, says Frank. The band has worked with Verwijk before on the video for Hiding in Light, of the sophomore EP, and he has produced work for acts such as Monnik, BARST and Ortega. Frank continues; “Niels has an extraordinary relationship with the dark. His material is cutting and grating. A perfect match”

The release is planned for 2020. In the meantime Farer will play new material in a couple of venues across The Netherlands. The first show will be in club for the international underground, Vera on December the 21st. Also on the bill that night are conceptual black metal band Grey Aura.

https://www.facebook.com/farer.band/
https://www.instagram.com/farer_band/
https://farer.bandcamp.com/