Album Review: Forlesen, Hierophant Violent
Posted in Reviews on July 13th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Forlesen‘s Hierophant Violent is of as many genres as it isn’t. The Bay Area three-piece of Ascalaphus (vocals, guitar, synth, harmonium), Bezaelith (vocals, guitar, bass, more synth) and Maleus (drums) boast a pedigree that includes cred-heavy outfits like Botanist, Lotus Thief and Kayo Dot, among others, but what Forlesen do isn’t so much to combine aspects of other bands as to unite creative impulses toward an immediately individualized purpose. To be sure, the noms de guerres trio have a foundation in black metal, but the two extended pieces of Hierophant Violent — “Following Light” (17:53) and “Nightbridge” (18:14) — are no more black metal than doom, than post-rock, than drone, than goth, than post-metal, and so on, depending on which stretch of either track one happens to be hearing at a given time. The true miracle of the debut release, which is out through Hypnotic Dirge Records, is that it is not disjointed at all, but instead, only benefits from the sonic diversity, building the proverbial whole that is stronger than the sum of its parts as each piece unfolds, distinct from the other but joined together by a an overarching ambience goes beyond the simple presence of synth among the guitar, bass and drums. Like the Benjamin A. Vierling cover art that adorns it, it is rife with symbolism and depth, the dual-vocals intertwining or each holding sway on their own as the record progresses, the songs weeding out the impatient quickly by means of gradual openings laced with drone.
In “Following Light,” the beginning establishes not just a gradual pace and the atmosphere that continues to play out across the entirety of the record, but it is a bit of worldbuilding as well, its resonance and far-off melodies of voice and harmonium sounding as though they’re coming down a hallway, stone walls surrounding, something otherworldly but inexplicably natural. A subtle progression is under way that shortly before five minutes gives way to Vangelis-style synth soundscaping, the tension moving the song forward as much as the keys themselves, and soon enough, organ joins in and a swell of noise and drone — not all of it melodic — has begun. There is a rhythm to the undulations, and a kind of mechanical banging, but it’s not until after seven minutes that the drums join in with a wash of cymbals, a cacophony emerging that recedes as quickly as it came, with the first clear vocal lines arriving at about 9:30 with the lyric, “So goes the darkness following light/Temple of sorrow blinds my eyes.” Ritual it is, then. So be it. Behind Bezaelith‘s voice, the ride cymbal has set a march, and guitar strums in with a slow riff to match, and at 11:08, a more forward progression takes hold, pushing ahead with the keys bringing an edge of melody as the guitar echo out in post-everything fashion and both voices, answered by deep-seated ambient shouts, run through the final verse, mournful despite serving as something of an apex to the song. “Following Light” proceeds with more shouts in the distance and melody up front until a snap just after 15 minutes in breaks the drums and the consuming begins; the riff seeming to eat itself as it goes measure by measure until, finally, it does, leaving Bezaelith to finish over residual synth.
To compare, the beginning of “Nightbridge” is quick in bringing Ascalaphus‘ first lines, spoken though they are over more quiet drones. The cinematic purpose here, the textural nature of what Forlesen are doing on what is unquestionably one of 2020’s best debut albums and marked accomplishment besides that, is not to be understated, and when I said “worldbuilding” before, it wasn’t exaggeration. Hierophant Violent is emotionally grueling and demanding of attention. If you’re listening and you’re not paying attention, you’ll simply miss it. Headphones, solitude, whatever it takes — it earns that effort on the part of the listener. Beats begin in frenetic fashion behind the still-calm vocals, and stop as a distorted shout leads to airy but subdued atmospherics, Ascalaphus still at the forefront. Just before five and a half minutes in, a keyboard line welcomes Bezaelith in self-harmonized layers — not quite chants, but evocative of them — and in another minute, a more weighted guitar line enters and the drums begin their next march, calling to mind some of Bell Witch‘s lumbering that is both shimmering and dark, beautiful and loaded down with mourning. Bezaelith matches notes with the keys (or harmonium?) and is joined by Ascalaphus and more layering, the lyrics making plain the nightbridge in question is a reference to death as a kind of crossing over to nothingness: “So goes this harvest of time’s dominion.”
Far-back black metal-style screams recite those lines and a swatch of others in intertwined arrangement with the melody before coming forward at 11:40 in, Maleus‘ drumming behind adding to the feeling of torrential chaos that lasts until nearly the 14-minute mark before the toms bring clarity to the proceedings and the guitar evens out to a pair harmonizing solos. Screams turn back to speech as “Nightbridge” has hit and passed its crescendo, the crash cymbal still holding to the march and some of the tension as the final minute-plus takes hold, voices still twisting around each other in a kind of obscure incantation. The last thing to go is a note of synth that calls all the way back to the start of the track some 18 minutes prior, and though one doubts Forlesen put it there for such a purpose, it nevertheless underscores the considerable nature of the journey that’s been undertaken by the listener from one end of the piece — and indeed from one end of the album — to the other. This is a work of wretched beauty. Heirophant Violent feels emblematic of an innovative level of genre conversation, and the fluidity with which it brings styles together to serve the band’s woeful purpose is genuinely forward-thinking. It is a challenge being issued, perhaps, but invariably one worth taking up at least on the part of those who would experience it, and those to whom it speaks directly may find comfort in its shared sorrows.
Forlesen, Hierophant Violent (2020)
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