I get a lot of advanced promos from bands and labels, dozens a week at least. I’ve racked my brain, but I don’t ever remember the subject of an e-mail noting a band as male-fronted. I even did a quick search, because I’m bad at deleting e-mails, and I cannot find that term. But I got a ton calling out female-fronted bands, as if that’s some novelty. Oh, there’s a girl in this one! I find it disrespectful and silly.

So, none of “The Calling From the Depth,” the debut full-length from grim black metal power Fayenne touches on that subject at all. But, the band—vocalist/guitarist Andréa Hillgren, bassist Mikaela Åkesson, drummer Martin Wahlberg—centers on female domination, destruction even, along with elements of nature and creaky second wave raw thunder. Thrusting that into what’s still a heavily male world establishes their own dominance, no matter their sex, because they bring a smothering hell with them that defaces and destroys. While it’s their first record, it hardly seems the work of mere novices, and this is a band that I’ll be excited to hear morph into their next form.

“The Calling From the Depth” blasts into existence, guitars spiraling and shrieks flying, melodic leads flooding the senses. The pace is fluid as the guitars bubble to the surface, the vocals pierce, and tornadic riffs bring this to a smoking end. “Sulfur and Mercury” mashes with humidity, drums pounding as shrieks retch, leads slicing into black metal permafrost. The pace jolts as guitars lead the charge, exploding into a harsh new reality. “Black Haze” battles through the fog, guitars slicing, the pace galloping with a sense of urgency. The playing rampages, causing ample bruising, storming off into oblivion. “Unholy Rebirth” has heated leads and screams battling through layers of ice, catchy riffs adding new colors to the blackness. Shrieks shred sanity as the fluid pace leaves extremities tingling, an abrupt end wrecking.

“Waters of Ancient Blood” floods, the drums mashing, screams picking at your fragile psyche and disconnecting wiring. The pace bursts with a gasp of new life, blasts loosening tectonic plates, the playing coming unglued before burning to its final rest. “Serpents Order” brings fiery guitars and a frantic pace, screams belting and opening up fresh wounds. Guitars unload a flurry of riffs as the drumming blasts through the surface, strangling with power. “Primordial Surface” rumbles over the earth, the vocals smearing blood, a speedy, catchy tempo taking over and making adrenaline gust. Guitars sweep as the speed gains traction, ending with rippling screams. Closer “Melas Khole” is steamy, a flurry of guitars stabbing into the cloud coverage, screams scorching as the battering continues. The pace then gets more volcanic, ramping up and making hearts race recklessly, a metallic surge combusting and resting in fallen ash.

“The Calling From the Depth” is a burst of black metal that ties tradition with modern development, never adhering to a particular era and stretching their manic power through the eons. Fayenne’s chaos is not polished or pristine, nor was it meant to be, as their darkness reigns in lesser explored terrains and far from where most minds tend to wander. This is a wrenching experience that reveals itself more with each listen and reveals chaos that only comes to those who commit to the journey.

For more on the band, go here: https://fayenne.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://voidwanderer.com/product/fayenne-the-calling-from-the-depth-mc/

For more on the label, go here: https://voidwanderer.com/