Robin is the impressive second release from Finnish technical melodic death metal band Farmakon, now signed to Candlelight Records here in the US. Five years in the making, Robin works on many levels, surprisingly full of groove for an album this heavy, complete with plenty of technical guitar riffs & rhythms, tasty solos, and a wide mix of vocal styles. While comparisons to bands like Edge of Sanity, Opeth, Amorphis, Scar Symmetry, and Into Eternity can be heard at times, the band survives on their own merits here, delivering a sound that is truly powerful and exciting. From the bombastic "Time-Tables", to the intricate "Coma September", it's obvious that this band from Finland knows how to churn out classy melodic yet brutal progressive death metal. "Sixty-Nine" brings to the table some alluring acoustic guitar work and lush percussion, reminding heavily of Opeth, right up to the point where the band comes crashing in with plenty of complex metal thunder. On "Recondite", the band mixes jazzy guitar and horn passages with violent death metal, and soft melodic vocal segments interject among tricky drum lines, wah-wah guitar solos, and brutal growls on the dramatic "Wings". The tension between complex death metal, jazz, and folk again rears its head on "A Temporary Death", and the experimental side of the band really comes to the forefront on the final three semi-lengthy tracks, "Helpless", "Monster", and "The Mentally Disabled and the Artist", tunes that will really appeal to fans of Opeth and Edge of Sanity. Honestly, there's a lot to sink your teeth into here, an hours worth of high-quality progressive death metal from a band that is sure to make some serious waves on the scene with this one. Recommended.
Track Listing
1) Time-Tables
2) Coma September
3) Sixty-Nine
4) Faint Light
5) Recondite
6) Wings
7) A Temporary Death
8) Helpless
9) Monster
10) The Mentally Disabled and the Artist
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