FEAR MY THOUGHTS – Vulcanus

This is the fifth full-length effort from the German Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal band Fear My Thoughts. They’ve come a long way since they formed in 1998, and gained many fans by touring with great names like Exodus, Caliban, Hypocrisy, and The Haunted. Their musical style is a beautiful mix of hard and heavy Metalcore and Melodic Death Metal with some Progressive tendencies.

Vulcanus is their Century Media Records debut and marks an end to their collaboration with Lifeforce Records. The album was produced by Jacob Hansen (Communic, Maroon, Hatesphere, Mercenary, etc.) and the production is, as usual with Hansen’s work, flawless. Fear My Thoughts have made an interesting choice in letting Kim Oelsen (Anubis Gates) write and play all keyboard parts on the record. This actually adds an atmospheric and more melodic touch to the music that other Metalcore bands lack.

“Accompanied By Death” is the first track on the record. This is an extreme Metalcore song with a fast tempo, growls, and screaming vocals, and it is one of the heaviest tracks on Vulcanus. Fear My Thoughts does this better than most bands within the genre, and bands like Diecast and a number of other Metalcore bands should take notes from this track!

“Blankness” is a straight-out typical Metalcore song. The riffs are fast and synchronous with the drums, the vocals are screaming and growling on the verses and clean and light on the choruses. An interesting part of the song is where the keyboards go into solo mode and play something that’s extremely atypical for the genre, but still fits great for the song.

“Culture Of Fear” could easily remind you of something out of the Deliverance record from Opeth. It starts off with a melodic guitar intro accompanied by the rest of the band in a sort of slow and downbeat mode, before they make the riff heavier and Mathias Ockl enters with an In Flames-like vocal. It’s a dark song, but far more melodic and much slower than the other songs.

“Accelerate Or Die” is the hardest and the heaviest track on the record. This is a heavy and neck-breaking song, with fast riffs and growls and screaming vocals. This is the darkest kind of song you get from Fear My Thoughts, and the guest appearances by Destruction’s Marcel Schirmer (vocals & bass) and Mike Sifringer (guitars) creates an extreme and unique twist for the song. This one is sure to make every headbanger go nuts.

The title-track, “Vulcanus,” is an epic, instrumental masterpiece. You get five minutes of melodic (and almost Progressive!) Metal that covers several different styles that you probably didn’t think you would ever hear from a band in this genre. You get heavy riffs, melodic guitar play, and impressive drum rhythms. All in all, this is a varied and challenging experience.

Vulcanus is a masterpiece within the Metalcore genre, and ought to be in every Metalcore fan’s record collection. Its variety is enormous and this might be the record that will take the genre into the next level. This record should also function as a wake-up call to all the Metalcore bands out there that want to sound like the undisputed masters within the genre; Hatesphere. Fear My Thoughts have just proven that it’s possible to make a great and varied Metalcore record without trying to copy others!

If you have the chance, be sure to catch a glimpse of Fear My Thoughts on their European tour with Kataklysm and Neaera in January.

Line-up:
• Mathias Benedikt von Ockl – Vocals
• Markus Ruf – Guitar
• Patrick Hagman – Guitar
• Bartosz Wojciechowski – Bass
• Norman Lonhard – Drums

Track list:
1. Accompanied By Death
2. Blankness
3. Culture Of Fear
4. Accelerate Or Die
5. Stamp Of Credence
6. Survival Scars
7. Vulcanus
8. Soul Consumer
9. Both Blood
10. Gates To Nowhere
11. Lost In Black
12. Wasteland