Fallen Letters are no strangers to defying expectations. The band has been branded as prog metal, doom metal, black metal and has the ability to transition between sounding like Deftones in one moment and Opeth in the other. After their expansive debut album release of Mindfractures, the obvious question was, ‘What next?’ Here’s what’s next; it’s called Hiraeth.
After touring with their release last year, the band have interacted with other musicians and festivals and got pretty great inspiration from everywhere. It’s evident in how they open the song with a more mellow and melodic fingerstyle opening than a hard-hitting riff. This is the breeze that soothes the fire, and instrumentals shine with a particular sparkle. Aditya Ramesh and Vishal Naidu find a duality in the guitar that drives when needed and hangs back into the meadows the other times.
The rhythm sections in the song tune into a more prog space. You can hear ambience that has been mixed beautifully in the track, production ensuring it doesn’t spill into the melodies either. Hiraeth comes from the Welsh word that means a certain longing and nostalgia. Naidu sings with a crooner’s heart, attenuating new melody structures in the vocals that become the melancholy associated with this silhouette in time he sings longingly for.
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You can hear great layers of background warmth as well. Bassist Abhay Prakash and drummer Mukund Narasimhan provide some woven melodies through some great hi-hat work, bass slides, and thumping notes when the silence cuts through. Some signature drum rolls to chorus and verse changes will always pique your interest. Fallen Letters highlights in the song the feeling of space, almost kept purposely for assumption and creating the mystery you feel the lyrics are hinting towards.
The new album will have the Fallen Letters exploring the trenches much more and testing waters with a new sound. The track is a prediction for something exciting that is to come. The question is whether we’ll be ready for what’s to come:
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
