Review: Fires in the Distance - Echoes from Deep November - The Progressive Subway

Style: Doom/Melodeath (harsh vocals)
Review by: Matt
Country: United States (Connecticut)
Release date: 18-09-2020

Ah, October… The perfect time to listen to doom metal and like, eat a squash or something. I specifically gravitate towards the “pretty” stuff like Swallow the Sun or Draconian around this time of year, and Fires in the Distance have hit the spot in the same way with their debut.

From the first stately, melodic riff, I knew this would be a good one. The composition is immediately heavy and gripping, though probably too nice for purists. Shiny keyboard parts figure prominently into every song, and the guitars are more animated than usual, sometimes going into melodeath territory a la Insomnium. The melodic parts might be a little on the nose, but they’re always satisfying, so I’m on board with all this. Importantly, there’s just enough truly heavy riffs to ensure that the songs maintain some edge to them, also helped by the vocalist’s brutal roar.

Although I started out ready to give this album a 9 or so, my enthusiasm was dulled a bit from repetition. The template is awesome, but they come back to it an awful lot. Every song feels pretty much the same, with similar chord progressions and structures, and in particular they keep leaning really hard on that one sequencer patch from the beginning of the album. It’s cool the first time, but feels gimmicky the fourth time. My other minor gripes are that closer “Sundial” feels anticlimactic, just kind of appearing, riffing a bit and fading out suddenly… And some of the guitar solos have a nasty sharp vibrato. Nevertheless, this is a classy band, and one of the better albums of 2020. I expect great things in the future, especially if they can branch out a bit.

Recommended tracks: Reflections in the Ice, Chained to the Earth
Recommended for fans of: Swallow the Sun, Insomnium
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Prosthetic Records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Fires in the Distance is:
– Craig Breitsprecher – Bass, Vocals
– Kyle Quintin – Drums
– Yegor Savonin – Guitars, Keyboards
– Kristian Grimaldi – Guitars, Vocals