Published: May 16, 2020 

Feral Light have been making music since 2015, in that time the duo have made 2 other albums; debut album Void/Sanctuary in 2017 and Fear Rides A Shadow in 2019. Feral Light is made up of Andrew Reeson on drums and Andy Schoengrund on guitar, bass and vocals, the band is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Feral Light play a fairly simple style of Black metal, this is at the opposite end of the Black metal spectrum to anything that could be considered ‘Symphonic’, there is a definite punk attitude to how this has been put together, and this comes across in the music as well, which has a crust punk feel to some of the material. So, in many places this is very simple, guitar, drums and vocals format, there isn’t that much complexity. However, if you thought that was a criticism, then you are wrong, this albums strength is it’s simplicity. The overall structure might be simple, but the elements that this is made up of are fantastic, the riffs are so well written and played that the lack of complexity just allows the high quality of the music to shine through.

Most of the material on offer here features pretty savage blast beats, with beautifully nasty tremolo picked riffs over the top, it’s straightforward, but extremely effective. When Feral Light aren’t ripping your face off they do a very good line in slower, more riffy material. Opening track Assuage is a great example of the both of these styles as it vacillates between simple, savage blasting tremolo picked riffs, and slower, more measured riffs, that are heavy and very tuneful. Hex Of Inverses opens with some wonderfully discordant and punky black metal that has some great blasting sections, as well as some more mid-paced, crusty riffs. In Summation also features a mix of blasting and slower riffs, in this case the slower, beautifully rhythmic section reminds me a little of Tyrants By Immortal, and also features a really great droney ending. The album closes with the track Walking Tomb. Walking Tomb does have some blasting, but is mainly about mid-paced, punky, and melodic riffs and slow and discordant sections. The song also boasts a guitar solo, and is a very mellifluous way to end a highly enjoyable album.

Life Vapor is a cracking album. As I’ve mentioned before it’s very simple, but it’s so well done that it doesn’t need any extra complexity. Although in places this is a pretty savage album, but it is packed with melody, tunefulness and great riffs that stick in your head. This is an album that works on songwriting, rather than huge production or bombast. These are very well written and played songs, and that is where this album shines. Highly recommended.