Saturday 16 October 2021

Befell - Solitude EP


Labels: Self-Released

Formats: Digital

Release Date: 25 Jun 2021


Tracklist:


1. Ticks

2. Endless Cycle

3. Innocent Victims


2021 sees the debut EP release from Pennsylvania, US metal band Befell. They are a fairly new trio who have previously released a demo called Uproot and a couple of singles. They released Solitude at the end of June and while the press releases I've received talk about it containing four tracks, the actual EP on bandcamp contains just three, so that's what I'll writing about here. They make some pretty big claims about trying to revive metal but I'm not going to focus on those too much and will let the music do the talking.


It always a good to be able to write about new bands, especially those who are just starting out. Befell is one such band and they’re not short of confidence. I think metal as a genre is all about confidence, but having too much too soon can be a bad thing. This trio is currently crafting their sound, so let’s see how Solitude holds up. Right away, EP opener and lead single ‘Ticks’ is filled with great thrashing riffs and up tempo percussion. The vocals are straight out of the old-school thrash top drawer and bare some resemblance to the likes of Evile and early Bullet For My Valentine. They work in some really good guitar solos as well and they’re clearly talented musicians. Pretty good so far but not groundbreaking yet.


‘Endless Cycle’ brings more melody and off-kilter rhythms that collide head-on with Befell’s thrash metal. For an American band, I have to give them props for not wanting to sound like the obvious American influences. They sound like they could be from Britain thanks to their delivery. There’s groove, energy and everything else you’d expect from a band playing this form of metal. 


As you get to the EP’s third and final track (on bandcamp at least), Befell’s impact starts to become clearer. ‘Innocent Victims’ is filled with twin-guitar melodies in it’s opening bars before their mix of harsh and clean vocals are joined by riffs aplenty, and their precise percussion. There is a lot to like about this EP and if you don’t take genre posturing too seriously then chances are you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. 


Okay so they’re not reviving metal but they are well on their way to greater things. With nu-metal beginning to make a comeback with a new wave of bands, it could lead to a resurgence of metalcore bands (just like when Killswitch Engage and Unearth began to gain greater recognition). I wouldn’t pigeonhole Befell into that sub-genre though, but if they can continue to hone their sound with future releases, they could be right up there.


You can stream and purchase Solitude digitally below:-



Befell - https://www.facebook.com/befellmusic

1 comment:

  1. Hey dude, thank you so much for the review!! I'm Jace, the drummer of Befell and this was so cool to read. So just a few things: I think it got lost in translation or we misspoke, but we meant to say we wanted to revive metalcore in it's thrash and melodeath inspired form that you don't see much of anymore unfortunately. The missing 4th track was our single Smoke Signals that came out 3 months prior that we decided to not include on the 3 track, and while this was written as a trio, I figured you guys should know we got ourselves a great bassist named Jon Perini who you will hear on the upcoming EP that will be released shortly. Thank you so much for giving us the time of day and I'm glad you enjoyed it! <3

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