Search - Fear My Thoughts :: Vulcanus

Continued progression from one of Germany's finest

K. McGinn | Upstate NY, USA | 02/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After the incredible lasting power of Hell Sweet Hell, calling Vulcanus one of my most anticipated discs of 2007 would be a great understatement. Fear My Thoughts has never been one to make the same album twice if you go back through their catalogue. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to recognize them as the same band if you played a song from 23 (their debut) and Vulcanus back to back. It's been a treat to see their evolution over the past three albums, from The Great Collapse forward and Vulcanus might just be their most fulfilling album yet.



Whereas many might have said that Hell Sweet Hell saw them emmerge as 'another melodic death band', Vulcanus sees the band challenge themselves to create an album that falls in line with HSH but expands and diversifies the formula tenfold. There are the thrashy melodic death tracks like opener "Accompanied by Death", "Accelerate or Die" (featuring Schmier and Mike from Destruction), "Lost in Black" and the neckbreaker "Survival Scars" that offer a logical progression from the previous disc but some new twists as well. There's a more melodic side of the band that comes out on "Blankness", "Soul Consumer", and the Opeth-like "Culture of Fear", as well as an experimentation with more proggy elements in tracks like "Wasteland" (wow, spoken word can work!) and the instrumental title track. But wait, there's more! One can find more straight-forward, old school death metal sound and groove with "Both Blood" and even some black metal elements within "Stamp of Credence". It's obvious the band has worked hard and upped their songwriting abilities to avoid being pigeonholed into one particular genre.



As with any album that stands the test of time, I'm hard-pressed to identify any "favorite" tracks, as I'm always noticing new nuances each time I hear the disc. There's the more obvious moments such as the clearly Soilwork-influenced chorus of "Gates to Nowhere", the addictive groove of the wisely chosen single of "Blankness", the growl-along goodness of "Lost in Black", or the savagely melodic riffs of "Survival Scars" that are some of best I've heard since Soilwork's "Possessing the Angels". But then there's the more subtle moments such as the gorgeous melodic lead in "Both Blood" at 2:50, the brooding atmosphere of "Stamp of Credence", or the keyboards that lace "Wasteland" that bring me back to these songs over and over again.



I don't think this disc could have come out any better for Fear My Thoughts. As I've mentioned, the songwriting and musicianship has noticably increased and the songs feel just as engrossing on the 50th listen as the first. Mathias' growls have been some of my favorite in metal but his clean vocals have improved drastically from Hell Sweet Hell. At this point I'd say he's up there with Christian Alvestam as one of metal more underappreciated vocalists. Finally, Jacob Hansen's production is easily one of the best to date, as everything is clear but there's just enough crunch in the guitars (see "Blankness") to keep it decidedly heavy.



Vulcanus was an extremely rare circumstance where I was still playing the previous disc quite regularly (after 2 years even!) but it has more than proved it's worth. As a major step-up from Hell Sweet Hell (though I'll have to wait 2 years to see if it holds up the same) and having major label-backing (Century Media), I'd say that 2007 is the year that Fear My Thoughts finally breaks through to the metal mainstream. It's February, but I have a feeling that this is one of the strongest discs you'll hear this year. For any melodic metal fans, this is 2007's first mandatory purchase."

F$#king awesome!

Mr. D. Anderson | London | 04/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For fans of any variant of the melodeath or thrash genres. Hell Sweet Hell was pretty cool, but this album sh^ts all over their previous release! More melodic, a bit more complex, shredding riffs, same death vocals, some clean vocals at the right time.



Much praise, this album rocks!



For fans of the melodeath genre, In Flames, Soilwork, Into Eternity, Trivium, Dark Tranquility, Darkest Hour, Cipher System.



LISTEN TO CIPHER SYSTEM - CENTRAL TUNNEL EIGHT! Album of 2006!"