Every now and again the Underground Face of Heavy Metal rises to the top and showcases a presentation that makes you wonder why more people are not listening to or paying attention to the groups at this level. Forgotten Fable is one of those bands that has a lot to say against the ills that haunt us in the world and while the subject matter of the songs found on their Untitled debut album are not for the feint of heart, the material and musicianship is a strong punch to the Metal psyche. The band is fronted by the dynamic and somewhat mysterious Andrew Taylor who originally hailed from the Christian Metal band Prone. I'll admit that I never heard their stuff before and had to wonder if some of the belief structure he kept in such a band helped form the presence and position that he would take with Forgotten Fable. The band defines their name as "a story of morals that have been set aside or ignored for our own desires" and that alone is a pretty heavy idea to absorb. Believe me the material that is on this Untitled album is no less intense.
Songs like "Requiem", "Painkiller" and "Damned Ones" are just a few that speak to the ugliness in our day to day life such as drugs, greed, rape and murder and yet while incredibly somber in their message, Andrew and the band manage to deliver a resonant power that in the end will hopefully deliver you to a better way of life. I didn't take this as a Christian Metal band and I am not sure that it is one at the end of the day, and instead is more of a Melodic Metal band that speaks to topics sometimes addressed in your conventional "White Metal" band. Based on some of the thank you notes that the bands leaves for us, at least a couple of its members appear to be Christian if not at least appreciative of their own belief structure a little more than most others. There is nothing Stryper-like to the band in terms of regular Hosannas being tossed into the mix if you were expecting that. As far as the problematic topics they sing about; let's face it, the news on the television along with the papers truly scares the life out of some people but that is the world we live in, so it was great to find a band that was brave enough to sing about these things. One has to admire that kind of courage. Taylor has a really resonating vocal register and while he reminded me of someone at a couple of instances I could not mentally gauge who that was. He also sports black face paint and a bright red beard as his image so that adds to his own intensity on the stage I am guessing. The musicians are top notch and find Tim Gleaves (lead guitar), Paul Garcia (rhythm guitar), Craig Alspaugh (bass) and Jarod Delgado (drums) delivering some clear justice on their respective instruments. I had to say that I enjoyed a number of the guitar runs and the solid rhythms under the melodies. Nice work guys. To say this album is a strong one is an understatement and it was nice to see such a release from a band that is largely considered an independent unit without any major label backing. Pay attention to this band you big record company people because there is money to be made here and we all know how much you love that stuff.
Favored tracks for me included the ones I mentioned earlier along with "Speechless" and "Fade" but to be honest I really didn't have any issues with the whole release which I was happy to find being the case. While I don't mean to nitpick I had a slight issue with the manner in which the lyrics were presented to the listener in the four page foldout booklet. Don't get me wrong as I love when a band gives us this, but every song and word were contiguous and that made it somewhat difficult to read and dissect in a tune for tune manner. There is such angst and rage against the plagues of the world in these songs and I wanted to be able to read a little deeper into each one on its own and when delivered in this fashion that became a little difficult. I do understand that a band on this level does not have the proper budget to give us any expansive notations so thanks at least for putting the lyrics in the release. There are also two photos of the band for you to see. One in concert and one posed studio shot. Since this is on the Groove/Melodic Metal side and has a strong foothold in Traditional Metal, I would say that this might be something that fans of Sevendust, Stone Sour and Shinedown might appreciate the most. I enjoyed it quite a bit and found it to be a consistent listen from beginning to end even if the subject matter was rather heavy in terms of its tone. It succeeded in its quest to present a message to you and while not all that happy or go lucky is still very effective at the end of the day.
Track Listing:
- Speechless
- Insomnia
- Painkiller
- Requiem
- Fade
- Damned Ones
- Poker Face
- Avarice
- Timeline
- Apathy
- Sorrow
- Hard Way
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