The British atmospheric black metal/post metal act, FEN, has just released their seventh full-length album, "Monuments To Absence." This album was released on the label, Prophecy Productions. It has eight tracks, spanning just over one hour, with the shortest song being six and a half minutes long. If you've read my reviews, you know I love well-developed, long, dynamic tracks. It's difficult to pigeonhole FEN's sound into a couple of subgenre qualifiers. I like to think of it as if NEUROSIS went in a black metal direction after the album, "Through Silver In Blood," or perhaps a black metal "THE OCEAN" would be a more apt assessment. "Monuments To Absence" is full of grand, sweeping soundscapes that are as visceral as they are engaging. FEN has dialed up the intensity on this release, compared to the excellent, yet more subdued previous album, "The Dead Light."

"Monuments To Absence" begins with "Scouring Ignorance." This track begins, in the same way, a lot of black metal albums do, with explosive and confrontational raspy vocals and violent instrumentation. They then steer into melodic black metal territory, breaking up the intensity of the track's intro. The most striking element of this track, as well as the whole album, is the use of clean backing vocals by Grungyn. Clean vocals aren't unusual considering this style of metal, but in this case, they are so well done that they complete each song by providing a welcome counterpoint to the more aggressive parts therein. Even though this is the shortest track on the album, there is plenty of space for how dynamic it is.

The third track, "Thrall," features Grungyn on lead vocals and his performance is exceptional. This track is a bit of a slow burn, or at least as close as black metal gets to one. The progressive intro builds steadily as both clean and raspy vocals balance each other out. Also, the riffs in this track are top-notch. The whispered vocals near the song's end are positively chilling. My favorite track on "Monuments To Absence" is "Truth Is Futility." The tranquil beginning sets a melancholy tone. Immediately after establishing that mood, a scream breaks out and the best clean vocals on the album can be heard. This is the most dynamic track on an album full of dynamic tracks. The music is often fierce and beautiful at the same time. FEN have stepped up their game in every conceivable way on this album and it all comes together on this track. There is heavy use of shrill feedback and atmospherics that teeter on the edge of my comfort level, but that passage gives way to some utterly cathartic music before clobbering your ears once more with an excellent burst of ferocity.

Another highlight is the seventh track, "Wracked." It is one of the album's two singles, with "Truth Is Futility" being the other one. "Wracked" goes harder than any of the previous tracks, but it isn't without its more melodic parts added in for balance. JG's drumming on this track is a force to be reckoned with. The whole song steadily builds to a perfectly-placed crescendo that pays off like no other. The final track, "All Is Lost" is a fitting end to an incredible album that is at times harrowing, but the perfectly placed melodic elements alleviate the tension well. This track is another steady build similar to "Thrall" and ends an overall bleak album on a fitting note of desperation.

There isn't a single bit of filler on "Monuments To Absence" and even though the tracks are on the longer side, they are so well-written and well-developed that they all seem to fly by. This is an album full of contrasts and is exactly what I look for in not only a black metal album but a metal album of any subgenre. This is one to evangelize. If you like post metal, progressive black metal, or just black metal in general, you owe it to yourself to check out "Monuments To Absence."