British atmospheric/post-/progressive black metal band Fen are putting out their new record "Monuments to Absence" on July 7th, their first since 2019's "The Dead Light".

From Prophecy Productions: https://www.facebook.com/prophecyproduc ... pbvyp6Pzjl



Fen also elaborated on their Instagram of how the new record will be the darkest they've been to date. (track lengths taken from Metal Archives) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq7rxLUo81H/



Cover art (spoiler for size)



Scouring Ignorance has been released as the first single from the record:



Overall, I'm fucking stoked as hell. Of all the Agallochian atmo-black bands that came up around the last couple decades, Fen is IMO one of my favourites and is the most unique of the bunch by a long shot, and at this point in their career they've long established their own sound that sets them apart from their peers. I also 100% agree that it's by far the darkest and most savage they've ever sounded; they haven't sounded this bleak since the song 'Consequence' from Dustwalker in 2013, and even then that song was sort of an anomaly compared to the rest of the album being noticeably softer for them as a whole.

It's a bit of a surprising direction, but definitely a welcome one because this first single is fucking great and I'm glad to see that they even though it still very clearly sounds like them, they aren't content and set on repeating themselves. Can't wait for the whole album!

I'm always happy to hear some new Fen. Although their favorite is still their debut by quite a long shot, all their released afterward is quality material. They have no bad album in their discography, so I'm expecting this to be at least good, and I hope for it to be great

Always happy to hear something new from Fen. The new single is definitely the most aggressive sounding thing they've done in recent memory, the album should be a cracker if the rest follows suit.

The second single is out today:

Thanks for posting that! Been meaning to get around to it.

Man, at this rate this might be one of my favourite records they've done! The first single was great and this one is too. More emphasis on the melody but still has the dark aggression they were foreshadowing, and that ambient section in the middle felt very fresh and new. And an UGGHHH ending? I think that's the first time I'd heard them do that. I'm stoked!

I'm alvvays happy to hear me some new Fen, and those drums sound reasonably authentic.

I also like that they broke this album up into 8 different tracks instead of doing one long 80 minute track. This makes it more accessible.

I kinda glazed over the last one, but this one sounds much more interesting already from what I've heard thus far.


You are one petty motherfucker you know that? Why are you bringing your Bell Witch rant into a thread about a completely different band?

Here's the third single:

I really wanted to like this one but the clean vocals are doing nothing for me.

Seems like one of the better albums released this year. I'm liking it a lot. It is probably their heaviest, no-frills, in your face metal sans those insufferable post- (black) metal routines they were doing on their earlier albums.

I've only listened to the new album once, but I found it quite decent on first listen. Nothing stood out significantly, but maybe with a few listens I'll enjoy it more and more. I'll definitely have to revisit this one.