FS Projekt: Garpiya (The Harpy)/Elfiyskiy Marsh (The Elven Mask)/Iskusstvo Voiny (The Craft Of War)/Kredo Tvoyo (Thy Creed

A one man Russian project coming from the mind of 'Efes', the FS Projekt is a band thoroughly ensconced in the world of fantasy power metal, resplendent with chanting vocals, bristling guitars and copious lashing of keyboards. Having worked completely independently for many years, Efes has now amassed a number of shorter length releases ranging from, in recent times, the Elfiyskiy Marsh single from 2014 through to the digital only single Kredo Tvoyo, released earlier in 2017. As you'll also gather from those titles Efes operates in his native tongue and considering the harsh sounds (to these non-Russian ears) it creates, it has to be said that Efes's controlled, melodic vocals embellish a selection of kick drum led stompers with real authority.

It's easy to get this genre wrong and while the likes of "Bagroviy Parus (The Crimson Sail)" (from The Harpy) could do with the guitars pushed further up in the mix, the forceful but still melody based attack sits right in the heart of where fantasy metal hits hardest. Overall the production values are pretty strong and at high volume there's no doubting that "Elfiyskiy Marsh" benefits from the subtle but bold attack, female vocals mixing with those of the main man as the feel moves from acoustic folk beginnings to proud struts of brass, synths and chest beating drums.

The two later singles also illustrate how FS Projekt is maturing, "Iskusstvo Voiny" and "Kredo Tvoyo" staying within the confines of this project's chosen outlook while beginning to push its boundaries and hint at heavier ground being explored. That said all six tracks from these various releases come together nicely and suggest that if Efes could maintain his artistic freedom while teaming up with an organisation that could allow him to produce a full album's worth of material, the results could really be well worth checking out.

As it is this one man outfit (which does benefit from the skills of many others as and when the need arises) possesses a huge amount of promise and guarantees a larger than life helping of muscle rippling fun. In truth the results are every bit as good as many of the higher profile bands operating within this style and while there's room for growth and evolution, what FS Projekt have slowly but surely served up so far, suggests they should be around for a long time to come.

Track Listings
1. Elfiyskiy March (The Elven March) Single 2014

Garpiya (The Harpy) 3 track EP 2015
1. Garpiya (The Harpy)
2. Shest Strün (Six Strings)
3. Bagroviy Parus (The Crimson Sail)

1. Iskusstvo Voiny (The Craft of War) Single 2016

1. Kredo Tvoyo (Thy Creed) Single 2017

Added: December 26th 2017
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: FS Projekt at bandcamp
Hits: 1953
Language: english

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