Fernwah – Approaching Oblivion

Share this on Facebook | Share this on Twitter

Hailing from the great state of New Jersey, FERNWAH perform one of a kind experimental Heavy Metal and featuring Zakk Mild and Peter Martin. "Approaching Oblivion" is a Progressive album that combines elements of Black/Death Metal along with trippy, Technical and Psychedelic, Stoner friendly fuzz, fueled by subconscious Jungian philosophies with a horror aesthetic. The album contains seven tracks.

“Toska” leads off the album. It’s a short, two-minute instrumental of clean guitars with a jovial tone. The guitars pick up with charming harmonies, and you feel refreshed after listening to it. The title track begins with a heavier and meatier groove. The sound here is pretty unique so far, with eerie melodies over a backdrop of a riff that don’t really connect well. I have a feeling this is what the album will bring. In the background are screams. “Leaking Out” is another odd song with strange chord progressions. I am not really picking up on much in the way of Black Metal elements, but the Death Metal elements come roaring out in this song. What the heck is this exactly?

“Conscious Dust” is a shorter piece with a heavy riff, thrashy riff and meaty bass lines. Some spoken word mixes in, along with some eerie ambiance. “Amulet” is an even shorter, two-minute track with another out-of-the-blue Hard Rock riff that features some melody. “Vertigo of Freedom/Individuality Rendered” is a much longer song, opening with a full melody that will bring a smile to your face. Some trippy elements join the fold, including keys and some lead guitars with plenty of echo. These would be the Stoner elements they talked about. It picks up with a jam session that is almost free-flowing. It ends with spoken word and odd, strange background music.

“Corrosive Catharsis” closes the album, with charming clean guitars and a melancholy pause. This was indeed a unique and at times, odd album. The combination of many styles varied from track to track, instead of switching up within each track. The result was honestly a listening experience that you did not know where things were headed. The really tough part about this album would be recommending it to listen to…I really have no words on this. I like unique music, but this album, I probably would not recommend.

Songwriting: 4
Musicianship: 8
Memorability: 2
Production: 8