Detailed Reviews [Foe - 2003 - "Arm Yourself with Clairvoyance"]

Foe (UK) - 2003 - "Arm Yourself with Clairvoyance"
(32 min, House of Stairs)

Prolusion. "Arm Yourself with Clairvoyance" is the debut album by the English band Foe.

Synopsis. On the album is presented an original and very complex all-instrumental Progressive Cathedral Metal with and without elements of guitar Art-Rock. To be more precise, this is one of the harshest and, simultaneously, most intricate manifestations of Progressive Cathedral Metal I've ever heard. A wide variety of different themes on each piece, kaleidoscopic changes of a musical direction, tempo contrasts, the continuous use of complex measures - all these are central compositionally performance features of the album, and the absence of vocals is quite well 'compensated' by the constant development of musical events. However, it's not that hard to imagine one singing on the 'background' of all these continuously crashing and regenerating structures, and Voivod circa "Killing Technology" (1987), which is stylistically more or less comparable with Foe, would probably be the best argument in favor of the use of vocals in a highly complicated Prog-Metal. The long tracks: Ted Parsons, Triangulator, and Pick on God For a Good Laugh (3, 5, & 7) are definitely the best here, while it's practically impossible to demonstrate all the virtues of this ever-changing music in such short pieces as Tialys & Salmakia and It's Beem a Hard Year for Mr. David Cyberman (2 & 4).

Conclusion. Foe's "Arm Yourself with Clairvoyance" is a promising debut and is recommended to those who like a harsh Prog-Metal in the vein of Sieges Even (1988), Voivod (1987), etc. The band may get a huge success in the future if will be keeping to large-scaled arrangements, which is possible only within long compositions. The engagement of vocalist might also be of help.

VM: October 10, 2003