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FEARWELL
Well Of Fear

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 7/10

FearWell is a Gothic metal act from the Netherlands. Their sound is daubed in philosophy, history and drama, so within the framework of this six-piece band you’ll get symphonic metal, traditional metal, thrash, black metal, neo-classical metal, melodic death metal, and what they deem “game music”.

Yes, it’s overlong at just under an hour, and at times it is a bit of a metal tsunami of styles, some of which irritate, such as when they all too often become one of those rather cheesy yet icy Euro-power metal outfits spewing tales of mythology, and there are moments when everything feels rather mechanical, but there are some interesting fuses of thrash and heavy metal.

The vocals go from commanding sneers to the thrashy rasps, but all the while the album drives on, nodding occasionally to Yngwie Malmsteen while flirting with, say, Children Of Bodom and also the more classically trained metal experimentalists.

It’s not an overly complex or progressive album, it’s just that there’s a lot going on – stabbing keyboards emerge from nowhere to create a tension (‘Well Of Fear’), console game imagery is evoked and blends with sniping death / thrash (‘Hypocrite’), and dramatic power metal gallops majestically through the forests of cheese (‘Battle In The Bay Of Matanzas’) whilst toying with angular thrash metal connotations circa Vektor.

I’m sure it was a long process putting this hulking opus together. It’s brim full of methodical designs where at its most simplistic it hints at Iron Maiden, particularly in some of the vocal warbles, but as this band’s stage outfits are influenced by the World Of Warcraft phenomenon, you can basically hear what FearWell is all about – passages of tension bordering on the grandiose, flecks of cutting speed metal (Fight Within Myself’). However, there’s always that shapeshifting capability.

For me, Well Of Fear does have that glossy design one comes to expect with European power and symphonic metal, but I admire the guys for their flexibility too. This will take a few listens to get a hold of just because of the amount of styles to combat, but once the seas are navigated things will run smoothly.

Neil Arnold

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