http://www.metalteamuk.net/jan11reviews/cdreviews-fdw.htm
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The artwork of blue-tinted shamanic rituals and blood-soaked, bone-on-skins percussion that accompanies Folge Dem Winds Inhale The Sacred Posion suggests that a potent hit of raw and transcendental black metal is to follow, though upon pressing play an unanticipated vision quickly emerges from the smoke. Reedy, Negura Bunget-esque guitars appear throughout, but beyond these intertwining roots lie buried processions of thick and sluggish, almost-sludgy riffs that frequently drag the tempo of the album down into slow-mo, post-rock chugging with their gravity.[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Like most trips, Inhale... is not light on discomfort; there are plenty of angular little melodic flourishes forever jarring and jutting their way in, whilst the spectre of Neurosis can often be found lingering just out of sight, imbuing a sense of primal dread through a mixture of slow-building, tension-filled acoustic picking and churning, lethargic riffs whose ancient, now barely-recognisable ancestors might once have resembled hardcore punk. Behind the Grey Veil is one such lumbering beast, shedding almost all of its black metal skin but for some raw, rasped vocals in favour of dirty, rolling tectonic shifts, fuzzed-out and discordant notes left hanging in the ether and even some distinctly Von-Till-esque chanting that leads out into a suitably incongruous passage of maudlin smooth jazz complete with gently lackadaisical brass. [/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Such otherworldly acoustics and time-bending hooks also appear on Through the Eye of the Immortal, which starts with a portentous opening doom riff that is pure undiluted Sabbath. This quickly gives way to some creeping, arachnidan riffs and dense blasting that fluctuates urgently in momentum and bristles with menace, before morphing into a lengthy hybrid of ragged tremolos and elongated, post-rock-inspired riffing that spirals ever-outwards with languid momentum. This points to what is surely the albums overarching musical theme; anchors of surging, slowly-unfolding riffs that build to rousing peaks, shot through with seams of raw BM, harsh screams and delirious chants, something which is nowhere more prevalent than on the albums title track. Here massive, crashing riffs and sporadic drums in the vein of Cult of Luna work themselves into repeated frenzies over bursts of shrill and trembling melody, the momentum slowly building and the melodic riffing glowing white hot before a vicious, coldly-methodical riff falls again and again, hacking away at the songs life-force like a masterfully-wielded ritual blade.[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Of Blood and Ether is similarly reliant upon immense, lurching rhythms, but here they feel far more morose, compressing and elongating but always plodding as they heave about to intermittent barrages of clattering drums and freezing, truncated tremolos that sit atop swathes of doleful, drawn-out melody. Other songs are much more urgent: Of Primordial Whirlwind , bookends dirgey, slowly unravelling riffs and dissonant, jarring, Gorgoroth-like chords with passages of rabid black/thrash, whilst Awaken in Unity is a compelling mix of gentle Spanish guitars, towering up-tempo doom, grinding BM plateaus and frenetic whirlwind riffs that could have been culled from Kreator album Enemy of God. [/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]A definite slow burner, Inhale the Sacred Poison is an album which took a while to win me over, but win me over it did. The vocals perhaps fall just a little short in places, but their ambitious mix of esoteric wails, lycanthropean howls and hysterical shrieks and growls ultimately adds much by way of atmosphere, nicely complementing albums mix of brooding, breathing riffs and labyrinthine, hi-octane blasting. A surprisingly successful cross-pollination of genres then, with a powerful kick to be savoured slowly.[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
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http://www.myspace.com/folgedemwindofficiel
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1] Ross Taylor [/SIZE][/FONT]