Album Review: Feral Light – Fear Rides a Shadow (Init Records/Pulverised Records)

Feral Light are a mysterious two-piece black metal/crust enigma hailing from Minnesota which features ex-members of Wolvhammer, Empires, Manetheren, and Censor. They play grim and sorrowful black metal entwined with savage and unyielding crust punk, with layers of post metal leanings.

“Fear Rides a Shadow” is their sophomore full length release. A vehicle of continuation from their first full length release, “Void/Sanctify”. Fear Rides a Shadow was released on CD via Init Records on vinyl via Pulverised Records on February 22nd 2019.

Fear Rides a Shadow is a beast of an album. In that it stirs, yawns before going on a destructive rampage. With boiling blackness combined with sombre passages and post-metal moments, we have a record that crosses borders and boundaries to great effect.

Beginning with the foaming storm of Arrow and Beast, it’s 6 minutes of crushing heaviness and tearing spitefulness. That uncompromising savage sound continues into Spirit Inanimate and Psychic Dirt making it clear that Fear Light are more focused on the black metal side of things above everything else. Although the latter is the first time the more ‘post’ edge really shows itself and it is bloody great.

As good as those segments are, the pure vile hatred that Feral Light spew out is where ‘t is at throughout the album. Cold Monochrome is an icy blast that appeals to the evil in all of us and Carbonic Dust eats away at the brain matter until nothing is left but a dribbling wreck.

Superb stuff.

Feral Light – Fear Rides a Shadow Full Track Listing:

1. Wake
2. Arrow and Beast
3. Spirit Inanimate
4. Psychic Dirt
5. Cold Monochrome
6. Carbonic Dust
7. No Refuge, No Reprieve

The album can be picked up in a number of formats on Bandcamp, Pulverised Records here and Init Records here. Find out more about Feral Light via their Facebook Page here.