Fjord
Lives Lives
Eulogy Recordings


'Lives Lives' is the debut album from Fjord, a band comprising former members of various hardcore and metal bands such as Winter Solstice, Von Doom and Healer. With such a pedigree, punters should not be fooled by the rather innocuous CD cover. This is indeed a very heavy and harrowing album, both musically and lyrically.

With a sound that is basically metalcore, 'Lives Lives' also contains elements of technical death metal on songs such as Travail and more cerebral, art-metal akin to Isis on Travail and The Vulgar. Vocalist Matt Tarpey sings with such an intense and passionate hardcore roar that it occasionally sounds as if his voice is about to give out. The rhythm section of drummer Mike Chapel and bassist Jordan Smith is tight but they are somewhat buried in the mix with the guitars of Logan Collette and Dan Pizillo very much to the fore.

Lyrically the album is generally extremely bleak, dealing mainly with despair, regret and feelings of hopelessness. The only exception is opening song Ascending White Mountain, on which the optimistic lyrics are at odds with the ferocity of the music.

Among other better tracks are the frenetic Feeler and the afore-mentioned Ascending White Mountain. Dining With Rats is a restrained instrumental piece featuring strings and which gradually builds in intensity and menace. The two-part Shape Shifter begins with another brooding instrumental piece (Shape) before launching into Shifter, a heavy mid-paced song on which Tarpey fairly spits out a tale of desolation and self-loathing.

Overall, this is an impressive debut release that manages to avoid the repetition so often found in many releases in this genre. 'Lives Lives' should appeal to fans of Botch, Isis, Converge, Burnt By The Sun and The End.

James McKenzie