Without knowing well the depths of darkness, you cannot appreciate your own light and the flame that flashes around, even during news of severe natural disasters and wars. Enigmatic Germans FARSOT seem to understand this, bringing to the surface their fourth studio album – ‘Life Promised Death’, which traditionally carries a heavy wall of sound, a dose of pure aggression… and something more – just in time to mark the band’s 25th anniversary.
As the album art makes clear, „Life Promised Death“ deals with the transience of things and how life sometimes slips through your fingers, speaking of inevitability in general. There is no way a person, regardless of their status, to be in constant control of their life.  Bitter truth, but still a valid one.
Sewn with avant-garde composed and played dark and black metal with a range of influences such as psychedelic rock and post-punk, aggressively and sometimes gently touching complex and delicate chords of the human psyche, the record spans almost an hour of emotionally charged melodies and intense shifting soundscapes.
An apocalyptic melody and drawn-out guitars set the tone on „Nausea.“ X.XIX’s crisp vocals soar in space, transitioning into clean chants at times, with the song hinting a little at the band’s last full-length album („Fail.Lure“). The message „Now I see“ floats between the rhythm guitars and broken drum sounds, like an answer to long-asked questions, exuding confidence and clarity.
Crossing this bridge between past and present, the second track „Buoyant Flames“ comes in furiously and in a rather more predatory manner fills the silence with relentless fast drums, several layers of fast guitars and bloodthirsty high and emotive vocals, in places surrounded by faint chorus chants , quite authentically unfold the song’s intention to show the true face of a large part of today’s society. According to the band, it’s a song about megalomania, contempt, arrogance, apathy, and holds the mirror up to all those whose only ambition is to catapult themselves to the top, driven by their desperate quest for power. The only ray of hope if you are in this situation is to see that a steep climb is followed by a hard fall that brings you back down to earth. X. XIX himself shared the following about this song in a recent interview: “It’s just unspeakably disgusting that there are people who don’t care about anything or anyone around them. They are the real cause of our downfall. The tragic truth is that there will always be such people, and they will always try to push their own interests, no matter the cost.“
The song, in addition to this resonating message, also touches with its interesting structure. Starting in the described harsh manner, the track imperceptibly moves to acoustic guitars and clean vocals, with fascinating  keyboard inclusions gradually flashing in the background, which gives depth to the record and balance the heaviness of the otherwise intense piece with a dose of atmospherics.
Throughout the album, FARSOT wander between their purifying traditional aggression and dreamy melancholy, dancing a particularly dark tango in each of the tracks.
Ethereal vocals soar between psychedelic guitars and avant-garde broken instrumentals in one moment, and in the next beautiful tremolo, fast drums, melodic bass and extremely charged harsh vocals set them on their toes. Compared to the band’s previous albums, you’ll hear more atmospheric moments here, with even jazzy elements and progressions present on the record, and you’ll also notice reapearing piano melodies in some of the tracks (the keys from „Buoyant Flames“ also creep into „Descent“ , for example, carrying a retrospective feel).
Inspired by the darkness around them, FARSOT deliver a new haunting, challenging and at the same time fascinating opus that surprises with its diversity and reinforces the band’s quality as a catalyst for inner reflective experiences and retrospection on the sacred and personal aspects of life. Combining a number of musical influences into its own symphony of touching sounds, „Life Promised Death“ is a fruit of darkness, opening doors to another and more ethereal dimension of musicians fully immersed in the depths of their artistry.

You can hear these songs from the album:

Album: „Life Promised Death“
Band: FARSOT
Label: Lupus Lounge/Prophecy Productions
Release date: February 16th, 2024
Link: https://bit.ly/47EpFFj