Fleshvessel - Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed

Angry Metal Guy

What is prog metal? At times, it’s too easy to slap the label onto anything different and call it a day—I myself am guilty of using the phrase “progressive melodic death metal” as if it’s a thing. But every once in a while comes a record that’s so very prog, there’s just no way around it. Fleshvessel, who hail from the US of A, releasing their debut record Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed is one such record. I’ve seen this called “experimental death metal,” but let’s be honest with ourselves here, when there are more than four times as many instruments as band members, we can call it progressive metal and then call it a day. Fleshvessel are interesting, and their music is appropriately unpredictable—but is it any good?

Well… yes, it is. And it’s good largely because of that unpredictability that demands multiple listens to really settle into the brain. To give you a quick idea of what we’ve got here, the band is comprised of Alexander Torres on guitar, cuatro, harps, viola, and handbell, Troll Hart on piano, synthesizers, and vocals, Sakda Srikoetkhruen on fretless bass¹, electric and acoustic guitars, and phin, and Gwyn Hoetzer on various flutes, ocarina, and wooden piccolo. So you never really know what’s going to happen next—opener “Winter Came Early” smoothly glides from beautiful acoustic passages to wild, black-metal-esque passages accented by screeching guitars and a beautiful organ sound. The vocals can be narrated, growled, screamed, or sung as songs demand, and the pacing of each track is a roll of the dice. The “additional” instruments are dancing atop melodies constantly, often at rapid speeds. The viola reminds of Ne Obliviscaris, the insanity of the whole evokes acts like Embrace of Disharmony. The heavier sections faintly remind me of the latest Nightmarer, but the truth is that none of these name drops are doing justice to the sound Fleshvessel offers here.

Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed by Fleshvessel

Each song on Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed is a journey, and Fleshvessel make that journey a remarkably fun one. While this is unmistakably an album of death metal, their progressive touches are everywhere, like the viola solo that transitions into a wild—flute solo? Synthesizer solo?—halfway through “The Void Chamber.” The song could easily end with the conclusion of that section, but immediately an acoustic guitar picks up the pace and the listener is treated to a quiet section led by a slightly discordant piano before the electric guitars return in force to march to the end of the song with a terrific solo. The highlight of the album for me is “A Stain.” The synthesizer solo that closes out the song is phenomenal. The accompanying riffs are uplifting and complement the piano in the background perfectly. So many moments like these make Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed is a journey well worth taking.

I only have two criticisms for the record, but they do weigh it down a bit. Firstly, it’s amazing to think that with so many instruments between them, Fleshvessel does not have a drummer; the drumming on the album is programmed and it shows with a serious lack of punch throughout. The other instruments have to put in a lot of work to make up for it. Secondly, the album’s pacing falters towards the end. Simply put, the closer is way too long. “Eyes Yet to Open” is seventeen minutes long, but the actual song is over at 7:05. From here, a number of improvisations, acoustic pieces, and other miscellaneous noises kill about seven minutes before the metal returns, with very little sense of urgency or finale. Without this, the album would be a mere 46 minutes long, and I would have very little to fault, but it’s a real shame that it ends on a comparatively weak note when the middle of the album is so, so strong.

Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed is a strong album that asks only some refinement to truly shine. I’ve been happy to listen to it over and over again before writing this review. There’s serious risk in writing music that flexes and glides so unpredictably over such long songs, but Fleshvessel have a real talent for keeping the listener engaged. I’ll be very excited to hear what the band does next—it’s actually hard to imagine any follow-up being less than spectacular.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 10² | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Websites: fleshvesseldm.bandcamp.com |facebook.com/fleshvesseldm
Releases Worldwide: July 28th, 2023

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