EPK – Fell Harvest – Pale Light In A Dying World (2021)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
For fans of Paradise Lost, Opeth, My Dying Bride, Agalloch, Type O Negative
Facebook.com/fellharvest | YouTube | Spotify | FellHarvest.Bandcamp.com
“’A snapshot of the plague year’, so much of this record was shaped by the pandemic, from deciding to record when and how we did, to tracking parts with a 103-degree fever and the discovery that I couldn’t sing the same way anymore because COVID damaged my lungs too badly. While it’s ultimately about more than just this one, unique moment in the modern zeitgeist, it’s also impossible to separate from the things happening around us when we created it.” – Joseph Fell – Fell Harvest
Album Title: Pale Light In A Dying World
Release Date: July 16, 2021
Label: Self-Release
Distribution: Self-Release
Track Listing:
1. Titanicide (4:36)
2. Pale Light In a Dying World (8:23)
3. The Lark at Morning (7:10)
4. The Wind That Shakes the Barley (4:32)
5. Thy Barren Fields (6:40)
6. The Ghosts of Scapa Flow (9:08)
Album Length: 40:32
Album Credits:
• All songs performed by: Joseph Fell, Liam Duncan, Angel Enkeli
• All songs written by: Joseph Fell
• Produced by: Joseph Fell
• Mixed by: Alexander Backlund
• Mastered by: Alexander Backlund
• Album Artwork by: Sam Nelson/Stigma Art
• Album Recording Band Line Up:
Joseph Fell – Bass, Vocals, Additional Guitars
Liam Duncan – Lead and Rhythm guitars
Angel Enkeli – Drums
Synths and programming by Alexander Backlund
Live Band Line Up:
Joseph Fell – Bass, Vocals
Liam Duncan – Lead and Rhythm Guitars
Angel Enkeli – Drums
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Album was a whole: “A snapshot of the plague year’. So much of this record was shaped by the pandemic, from deciding to record when and how the band did, to tracking parts with a 103-degree fever and the discovery that vocalist Joseph Fell couldn’t sing the same way anymore because COVID damaged his lungs too badly. While it’s ultimately about more than just this one, unique moment in the modern zeitgeist, it’s also impossible to separate from the things happening around us when the band created it.
Describe each song track by track
Titanicide: This song is built around a collection of riffs I wrote more than 20 years ago. It has heavy influence from 90s bands like Samael and At The Gates. These riffs sat homeless in the back of my head all this time because I never felt an urge to unify and complete them. The title and lyrics are about transcending and ultimately destroying one’s idols, both literally and metaphysically.
Pale Light In a Dying World: This was inspired by walking to work during a dark winter morning and feeling like I was struggling to find life in a world that could offer only dimness and cold. It also has heavy 90s melo-death influences but also has an acoustic section that drops to one of the heaviest riffs I’ve ever written
The Lark At Morning: Much more of a straightforward death-doom song, its lyrics are a nod to the famous scene in Romeo and Juliette, inspired by watching the sunrise with a woman who I knew I’d never see again.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley: Classic Irish ballad about one of the many doomed rebellions that country has fought against the English. I feel like the lyrics and melody naturally lead to a very sorrowful, blackened doom feel.
Thy Barren Fields: Probably the song on the album I am most proud of. It encompasses a really broad scope of influences while never feeling like it’s reaching or forcing anything (I hope). This is another one made of brand new parts and things that have been hanging in the back of my head for years.
The Ghosts of Scapa Flow: This was a Thorns of Acanthus song written for that band’s debut EP in 2014. I decided to resurrect it in a new format because it’s always been a fan favorite whenever we play live. It was inspired by the scuttling of the interned German High Seas Fleet following the Treaty of Versailles.
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STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS ABOUT THE BAND:
– Joseph Fell found Liam through an ad on Craigslist after jamming with probably a half dozen other guitarists who just didn’t have the right combination of doom aesthetic and death metal technique. As soon as he heard Liam’s “audition” track, Crystal Mountain by Death, he knew this was the guy.
– This album was mixed and mastered by Alexander Backlund, the man behind 1914’s “The Blind Leading the Blind”.
– This album’s vocal styles are markedly different from prior efforts, being entirely “clean” with no death or black metal harshness. This was because Joseph Fell contracted COVID during recording and the resulting lung damage made that style of vocal impossible.
– All the clean sections of the album were recorded on an actual acoustic guitar and played fingerstyle.
– The band’s logo/sigil depicts an undead elk with rotting branches for antlers. The stag’s name is CJ – short for Creutzfeldt-Jakob, or “mad cow disease” which one can get from eating elk.
Photo Credit: Sean Castenada
L-R – Joseph Fell – Bass/Vocals, Angel Enkeli – Drums, Liam Duncan – Guitars
Discography:
2021 – Pale Light In A Dying World – LP
2020 – Fell Harvest – EP
Shared Stage with:
Velnias, Seed of the Sorcerer, Womb of the Witch, The Leshen, Belhor, Scepter of Eligos
