Faustus - Memoriam - Album Review - Modern Death / Djent Metal from Bollnäs, Sweden
Today, I am reviewing "Memoriam" by Faustus, a modern death metal band from Bollnäs, Sweden, released on November 11, 2022.
FAUSTUS - The Creation of What's Called Hell (Official Music Video)
Video produced by: Daniel Wahlström, Heavy Groove Media
Actress: Johanna BergerinActor: Peter Grehn
Recorded at Obsidian Recording StudiosMixed and mastered by Robert Kukla
Faustus has been releasing music since their debut single in 2017 titled "187", and "Memoriam" is only their second studio album since their first, "Laments of an Obscure Mind," released in 2018. After listening to "Memoriam" on repeat a few times this afternoon, I concluded that the album deserves appreciation for its final result, but let me go into the details first.
The musical side of the album has three pillars in its foundation: death metal, djent metal, and modern metalcore. During your listen, you hear Faustus go back and forth between these influences which made me reconsider the right definition of their musical foundation more than a few times. They have the darkness of old school metal whereas the technicality and preciseness of modern djent reminded me of some Scandinavian death, extreme metal, and also Meshuggah. The vocalist adds so much character to the work with his bullet-proof performances and attitude, even though he constantly reminded me of Jens Kidman many times during my listen. Nevertheless, the band shows great potential with their tight performances, one of the highlighted qualities of the album, followed by their progressive vision, tightness, extremity, and technicality.
On the technical side of things, "Memoriam" has a tasty blend of modern death, djent, and metalcore characteristics in their sound design and production, similar to their musical approach. I personally enjoyed the smooth transition the producer has provided the most, and now it sounds as good as other industry-leading modern metal productions out there. The album changes its colors and tone similar to a chameleon through the way, it is so smooth and fluid, leaving behind no trace for you to notice these changes in real-time. The sound production of "Memoriam" deserves the top mark from me, simply a monstrous sounding death metal album from start to finish.
Faustus, band photo Credit: @shoobahlab
Although there are many things to appreciate about "Memoriam," I have to admit that the album sounded a bit too familiar to me with its musical vision in the end. It is bullet-proof for its energy, dynamics, modern character, attitude, and power, yet accompanied by both traditional and mainstream influences that I was familiar with.
Faustus, band photo Credit: @shoobahlab
In conclusion, listening to "Memoriam" was a great pleasure. A monstrous sounding modern death metal album by a hot prospect from Sweden, blending old-school death with modern metalcore and djent metal. Thanks for reading this further, I hope you enjoy "Memoriam" as much as I did.
Faustus, Memoriam (2022) Album Front Cover Artwork Art Credit: Jani Stefanovic / Dreamdecipher Productions
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