In 2014, I was blown away by the soaring atmospheric beauty of "Roots" by SAOR. Andy Marshall, the man behind the latter, has now produced another impressive piece of music in the form of "I", the debut full-length of his other active band FUATH.

FUATH is sparser musically compared to SAOR, but this is certainly not a fault. Marshall creates hypnotic soundscapes which transported me to an alternate universe for a while. He doesn't use atmospheric black meta as an excuse for repeating the same boring riffs ad nauseum, and instead carefully crafts the four tracks of "I" in a way that manages to avoid tedium. The songs are all relatively long, but never outstay their welcome.

The opening riff on "Blood" has a resemblance to that of "Hangar 18" by MEGADETH. While these are very different bands, the same galloping rhythm is there. The song then morphs into a slow burner with mournful, bubbling riffs. After allowing that section to "marinate" for a little while, it switches back to a faster pace, with violins adding depth to the piece. Marshall also adds variety in the occasional additions of more guttural vocals to accompany the rasps. Another songwriting highlight for me is the gripping closer "Spirit of the North". The riff about four minutes into the song is a soaring thing of beauty, which is enhanced by subtle background keyboards. The changes between slower and faster sections are done very well, and the variations on previous guitar riffs add to the naturalness of the transitions.

I was just as impressed by Marshall's performance on multiple instruments for FUATH as I was when I listened to SAOR. Not only has he created memorable guitar riffs, but he also gives his riffs a solid rhythm section on which to build. His drumming on "I" is considered throughout. The addictive blastbeats on "Blood" are just as compelling as the slower fills on "The Oracle". The latter includes a slower tom/cymbal melody layered on top of the rapid-fire bass drum countermelody.

In the end, SAOR and FUATH are quite different beasts, despite both fitting somewhere on the atmospheric black metal spectrum. I liked the fact that these two bands explore different sounds; the lack of "sameyness" across the two is a testament to Andy Marshall's creativity.

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