Foscor: Those Horrors Wither

Catalonia’s black metallers reach beyond their marker points

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Catalonia isn’t known for its metal bands – let alone black metal bands – and to be honest, neither is the rest of Spain.

Foscor are therefore a welcome break from convention, since they not only hail from Barcelona but also buck the trend of a lot of other Spanish metal bands by being damn impressive to boot. Better still, they’re actually quite original, and though still labelled a black metal band, the music here happily ignores both clichés and self-imposed genre limitations. There’s a surprising amount of clean-sung vocals, for one, used alongside more traditional black vocal techniques in a manner reminiscent of latter-day Enslaved, among others. The similarities don’t end there, either, the proficient musicianship and songwriting utilising technical passages without becoming over-indulgent or stifling a sense of flow and mystique – indeed, there’s little doubt that Those Horrors Wither will appeal to those who enjoy 70s/progressive overtones within their extreme metal generally. In fact, dare we say that even Opeth is occasionally brought to mind?

Released via Alone Records