Gee, that was quite unusual! Of course, it had to be released on Bindrune Recordings, home of one of my favorite albums of 2008, Cold Northern Vengeance's Domination and Servitude. The cover artwork invites the listener to dwell into some sort of mystical Pagan world. In this case, it is solo artist Chet W. Scott's own musical vision, inspired by the words of Daniel Ellis Harrod.
A Feral Spirit is somewhat hard to categorized, due to multiple sources of inspiration. The first thing you hear, the opening track called "Spell of the Elk", is a Shamanic incantation with nature samplings, including diverse animals, percussions, flute and some electronics. This intro last nearly ten minutes. The Shamanic references are re-appearing in a few, but shorter, occasions. These occurrences are bringing a touch of harmonies, and they are often combined with clean arpeggios, flute, ambient keyboards and the likes. The bulk of the musical structure here is made of slow to mid paced tempos paired with real heavy guitar riffs and spoken raspy vocals with a touch of sickness in them. This 70 minutes plus opus is composed of intense Black/Doom Metal essentially. Even if A Feral Spirit is not for everyone, this disc will be well received by those with a liking for the darkest spectrum of the extreme music. Just to add an intriguing edge to this mysterious album, some keyboard and guitar parts have a bit of a psychedelic tone, expanding Mr. Scott's twisted musical palette.
A Feral Spirit is, artistically speaking, a great and mysterious extreme Metal release, with numerous superb compositions such as: "Crippling of Age", "The Melancholy Article" and "Forest of Decrepitude".
Track Listing:
1 - Spell of the Elk
2 - Crippling of Age
3 - He Who Walked Away From the Fire & Laughed As he Bled
4 - Void
5 - The Melancholy Article
6 - Unattanable Vistas Of Our Remebrances
7 - Forest of Decrepitude
8 - Inter-Weaving the Beyond
9 - Journey of the Plague Year