Release Date: March 15, 2013
Label: aufnahme + wiedergabe
Feuerbahn's The Fire Dance is a short 5-track album that knows how to use it's brevity to great effect. In it's twenty-five minute runtime The Fire Dance tells a concise and immersive tale of loss drenched in melancholy and abrasion. The noise riddled walls of post-punk rarely stop for an uplifting moment or to let you catch a breath. With each track flowing seamlessly to the next, once you hit play you won't escape until it's over.
The album starts off broadly and hopeful with "Lacerba", guitars frenetically strumming to the tune of distortion and broad reverb. The hopefulness soon turns to longing when metallic synth, early Swans-era industrialized drums and muffled vocals (equal parts panicked and sagely) fill in the sound-field. The bitter nostalgia of the first track eventually devolves into a wall of sound akin to that of a rocket take off, beginning second tack begins. Piercing feedback tones and maniacal shouting interplay behind the waves of noise to set a scene of pure aggression. As it flows into the third track, "Deren Herzullie", a breathier layer of noise sweeps through to clear out the distorted mess and it begins to sound as if the previous horror scene has been transported underwater. Growling, bubbling bass synth and meandering pads envelope the listener as tenderly aggressive drums (think a mother lion fiercely defending it's young) lower the song into an impenetrable bleakness. The vocals on this track are very grievous and droning, which at first adds to the song but soon enough gets very tiring. More vocal variety could be helpful especially when the chorus kicks in and the song becomes more self assured, shedding it's wandering nature.
"Triumphwagen" is the eight minute epic of the album and probably the best track on it. It builds slowly and tentatively, steadily adding in synths, bass, and guitar before exploding into noise and a powerful tom-based beat. Vocals are again monotonous, but work here as they accompany the drums and are quite forceful. Stumbling giant steps turn to a driving-unstoppable force as the drums and wormish, disturbed lead take control of the groove. It just keeps getting fuzzier, grinding along, reveling in it's force, finally reaching it's peak and petering out. The progression of intensity is close masterful, but could have reached perfection with better production, specifically a better low-end treatment as the track reached it's climax. The final track is much calmer with clean bass (you can hear the steel of the strings) taking melody, it's beauty masked by the murky synths creeping slowly in the background and simple percussion hit from a distance. For the first time since the first track an uplifting sequence is played, serving as a great chaser to the power of the previous track. Listening to "Heilige Künsten" is like the most tender scene of a mother caring for her child right on the edge of your peripheral vision while a dark and swirling swamp occupies your main vision. The looming unknown draping itself across the homely and comforting.
The Fire Dance is an exercise in finding beauty in despair; joyousness in disgust. It's story is that of longing, frustration, despair, realization, and reluctant acceptance (in that order) and makes for a gripping experience. It is a beautiful and bloody defeat.
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