Firtan – Okeanos

I have this theory, people are afraid of the things that they don't understand, we all are afraid of gods, ghosts, death, darkness and the future. The fear stems from the voids of our know-how and we as a species have gone to great lengths to understand the unknown, as if knowledge brings us peace, for we all know we will never again smile in innocence like we did when we were just an infant. Somethings are best kept unknown and sometimes ignorance is a blessing. Why did I start of with this philosophical blather ? Well Firtan hails from Germany and they whisper, talk, sing, scream and growl in German and I don't understand a word of German. Should I be afraid then ? No, because there is no fear in love and I love this album.

Okeanos or Oceanus according to ancient Greeks was a divine personification of the sea, an enormous river encircling the world and this album has this ocean or water theme prevalent throughout its six songs. The water element may not be as apparent as it was in Leviathan by Mastodon but you can feel it by the way the riffs 'flow' and by the way the songs fade in and fade out to one another. The album starts of with the song Seegang (German for sea) and the song starts off with sea shore soundscapes, Mongolian throat singing and the first of the many German spoken word parts, when the drum kicks in you are treated with Blood Fire Death era Bathory war cries. Firtan loves contrasts and dynamic shifts in their music, there are 'light and dark' transitions throughout and an acoustic breakdown is never far away, however these transitions are not 'Opeth smooth' instead in most cases they are abrupt and somehow it works. Seegang has an acoustic breakdown in the beginning and the same is used as a motif throughout giving the song a distinct character, giving us a 'hook' to identify with.

            

The following two songs Tag Verweil and Nacht Verweil (Germen for dwelling in the day and dwelling in the night) has almost metalcore-ish riffing, chugs in the vein of modern day Decapitated but those are often layered with melodic leads and subtle symphonic touches. Nacht Verweil has a grand opening like the classic I am the Black Wizards by Emperor, it just explodes into a triumphant tremolo picking melody and the song introduces another Okeanos cynosure, the violins. Shout 'Violins in metal' on a mountain top and the words Ne Obliviscaris echoes back but unlike that Australian band, Firtan will never be known as 'that band with violins'. The violins are tastefully incorporated into the song, appearing in those parts where we expect a guitar solo, restrained but enough to leave an impression. It takes center stage however on the next song, an instrumental.

Purpur is more than an interlude, it is almost a highlight in itself. The violins are backed up by clean guitar arpeggios and they even traverse through eastern melodies almost bordering Indian classical music. I usually skip intrudes in metal albums but this one is special, whoever played violin on this song has put his or her soul into it. The song gives the album an emotional depth and it is perfectly placed on the center of the album's forty minute runtime.

The closer Siebente, letzte Einsamkeit (German for Seventh, last solitude) has doomy intro and when it picks up pace it has traditional heavy metal riffs with synths hovering around. There is a well executed time signature change towards the end with the drums, base and synths locking into a groove with the guitar motif still continuing, giving that part a disjointed feel. The song and Okeanos comes to a close as the guitars and drums make way for the synths, ending the album on a melancholic note, a solemn conclusion for what has been a truly memorable excursion.

 
The album is not without faults however, the transitions seems to be forced and abrupt, for example in the penultimate song Uferlos the break to acoustic guitars is a bit jarring. A lot of ideas are explored in this album and the band seems to do too much in too little a time. These are just nitpicks to what has been one of the best black metal albums released this year, the album sounds great with one of the best sounding drums I've heard on a metal album.
               
Language was never a deterrent for me especially in black metal, some of my favorites like Alcest, Shining, Taake and Moonsorrow sing in French, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish respectively. The music and its expression becomes more potent when it is done in the native tongue. Firtan draws its lyrics from the works of influential German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the American writer H. P. Lovecraft , even the word 'firtan' in Old High German means 'wicked' or 'godless', things cannot get more black metal than that.

I won't lie to you, if not for that wonderful cover artwork I would have never checked this one out. The artwork is as bizarre and enchanting as the music. Firtan through Okeanos delivered a black metal album that I always wanted, the one that meanders, the one that sails to blurred horizons but still finds a way back home.

Okeanos is available through Art of Propaganda Records          

LINKS FOR YOUR ENLIGHTMENT

Firtan   Bathory   Opeth   Decapitated   Emperor   Ne Obliviscaris   

Alcest   Shining   Taake   Moonsorrow

Okeanos on Bandcamp