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Release Date: August 28th 2026. Record Label: Octopus Rising. Formats: DD
Armageddon Scars - Tracklist
1.Flatline
2.Dead Shepherd
3.Poisoned Crown
4.The Mariner
5.Passages
Members
Ryan Ashmore - Vocals
Trey Porche - Instruments, Programming
Review
Doom/Sludge Metal duo FANE debut album Armageddon Scars creates a brutal and emotionally engaging style of music that ventures into similar waters of bands such as THOU, Primitive Man, YOB and Neurosis. The brooding atmospherics has plenty of heavy progressive weight that powers the DRONED OUT dimension that is added at different stages of the record. There are hidden traces of Punk, Black Metal and some small instances of Death Metal which gives Armageddon Scars quite a violent and hypnotic sound from the very start.
The opening track Flatline allows FANE to demonstrate some subversive levels of Doom Metal that allows the listener to fully lose themselves within the Sludge Metal textures that become more accustomed to the Post-Metal world. The vocals from Ryan Ashmore are delivered with a grim extreme and menacing style that has a solid HARSH and THUGGISH energy to them. FANE are never afraid to explore the dominant Black Metal environments which offer crushing, violent and destructive instrumental grooves that last the course and where any uplifting soundscapes are wisely banished from existence here.
Second track Dead Shepherd only solidifies the eternal DOOM & GLOOM message that FANE project throughout the album with punishing Post-Metal sounds and some brief Psychedelic interludes that offer a dramatic feeling to emerge from the darkness. Trey Porche has his work cut out providing all the Instrumental and Programming aspect for FANE to devour everyone’s soul with. This is a great counterbalance with Ryan’s vocals, perhaps opening the gateway for that brutal and monolithic style of music to explore the darkest corners of the whole album.
Third track Poisoned Crown follows a similar path to the previous track but operates with a simpler riff based structure without compromising the violent progressive sounds that have already been set out from the start. FANE delivers the most straightforward grooves that have that classic YOB influence behind them. The extra layer of Psych Metal just pushes the album into different sonic based arenas whilst keeping that Blackened Post-Metal atmosphere fully intact.
The final two tracks The Mariner and Passages bring a different aura of darkness from FANE with that Progressive sound adding abstract soundscapes and Ambient sound effects for perhaps the best part of the album. FANE feel more determined to forge their own identity with these two tracks with tighter vocals and better instrumental control whilst punishing the listeners yet again with an intense blast of pure Doom/Sludge Metal brutality.
Armageddon Scars is quite subversive and superbly inventive with the Ambient Sounds and Psych Metal effects which allows FANE to never lose focus on releasing an epic sounding debut album that will leave you an emotional shivering wreck when everything is said and done.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.
Armageddon Scars is available to buy now on DD via Octopus Rising.
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