Fallen - Fallen (CD) Digipak

Review
Gorgers Metall
03.08.2015

I could have re-used the very same prologue as on the Impression below, but I'm not quite that lazy.
When I wrote “the similarities ends there” I might have been a bit hasty jumping to that conclusion. There are several musical similarities, though the two bands expression differs slightly.
This is released as a compilation, but Fallen may just as easily be regarded as a re-release of the band's dйbut, and only album, A Tragedy's Bitter End, released in limited edition on Aftermath Music in 2004, now including two bonus tracks.
The band was starting in 1996 and released a two track demo in 2004. I can't guarantee that the trio behind the demo also founded the band, or if any of them tagged along afterwards. Drummer Anders Eek and guitarist Christian Loos came both from the band Funeral, while vocalist, keyboardist, guitarist and bassist Kjetil Ottersen joined Funeral's ranks in 2001.
Both songs from the demo was brought along to the dйbut. The two bonus tracks originated later, originally intended as material for an upcoming release that was put on hold after Christian's tragic suicide in 2006.
Anders Eek currently remains as the sole member. His future plan is reportedly to revitalize the band and release a sequel when he has gained new suffering souls to the constellation.

We shall once again embark on syrups-sticky musical paths where the tristesse reigns. Besides being even darker than Funeral in aural clothing, the biggest difference is the vocals. We need to lower the choral frequency by a few octaves. Right down to the clean vocal basement, where Kjetil sings darker than Peter Steel (Type O Negative). Not at all times, admittedly, but more than enough to make a characteristic part of the band's early expressions.
Whether this dark form of vocal can be defined as a baritone, I'm not going to claim in a cocksure matter, for it doesn't hold the warm bass sound that the vocals form tends to be known for.

The light in the end of the tunnel that the vocals added to Funeral is lacking here. Even the uplifting guitar playing that the latter used is absent. What? Didn't I mention that? Go figure.
If gloomy piano, melancholic flute or weeping violin strings can be seen as mitigating elements, they are the only encouraging circumstances in the darkness this time.

The expression Fallen conveys, or should I say preaches, is theatrical, with a taste of monastery and burial. It provides tracks from barely 3 to nearly 18 minutes, and the entire ceremony lasts for almost 80 minutes, of which A Tragedy's Bitter End occupies 56.

The sound carries a moderate touch of dйbut. The sound is certainly not bad, and it fits the dystopian landscape well, but it varies a bit too much from song to song, and it requires some volume to “show its true face” as well. The dynamic range is high in the two small clips To the Fallen (DR10) and The Funeral (DR11), but that's quite normal for minimalistic instrumental tracks consisting of piano keys and fiddle strings. The real songs cover a wide range from poor DR4 to very good DR9.

As in the case of Funeral, several of these songs could have had a stronger structure, but there's also a lot of goodies hidden in the grooves. The album also grows over time, and patience is thus a most necessary virtue. Fallen offers a consistent funeral march which admittedly could have provided a more solid material, but that still makes itselves useful just as it appears. A Pretty Good release of the exceptionally down-tuned kind, both in atmosphere, vocals and instrumentation.