FIERCE DEITY - A Terrible Fate

FIERCE DEITY

Album: A Terrible Fate

Genre: Stoner Powermetal

Release Date: April 16th, 2024

Country: Australia

Label: Self-released

Band-Links: BANDCAMP / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / INTERVIEW (from 2021)

There are certain genre tags that don’t want to go well together for me, like Progressive Punk or Speed Doom Metal ;-) yet I’m always curious, and happy to be convinced of the opposite - And so did FIERCE DEITY a while ago with his special kind of Stoner Power Metal. Hailing from Tasmania, the man behind this project is multi-instrumentalist and composer Jonathon Barwick, who already got some well-deserved attention with his marvelous debut album "Power, Wisdom, Courage" in September 2021. His second full-length is called "A Terrible Fate", came out on April 16th, 2024, and is crowned once again by a stunning piece of art from Ryan T.Hancock.

Lyrically mostly inspired by fantasy games and movies, he invites the listeners to start their own journey while diving into the music. Opening with the mighty "Lev-i-Arach", he strikes again with heavy guitar work, a slow, but high-energetic groove, and powerful vocal harmonies. The following "A Life of Hate" comes along faster, and also got some spooky sound effects as well as additional Hammond Organ in the background.

"Nekot's Shrine / Storm Temple" starts with a beautiful, rather gloomy instrumental section, but during the second half, the used "Fierce Deity" formula doesn't work that well for me anymore, becoming a bit too repetitive at some point. Next up is "Deadworld", bringing us back on track with this certain heaviness, sparkling keyboard sounds, and an anthemic chorus.

"Paralysis (Into the Wind)" offers a welcome change by setting up a dreamy mood, and I love how he builds up the song with a long instrumental part. The second half has a strong, melancholic "fire pit"-vibe due to the wonderful, touching vocals, first only accompanied by acoustic guitar, then growing with light percussion and orchestration towards the end. The great finale comes in form of the title track, on which he fully delivers again.

By melting the groove of Stoner with the melody and lyrical language of Powermetal, FIERCE DEITY takes the listener on a mighty sounding journey. While there is the one or other length in the middle section, the additional, new elements and the songs' development in the second half are absolutely worth to go through the whole piece. Crank it up - But Beware! These melodies are highly addictive...

Written by Katha