Seven Spires – A Fortress Called Home

Seven Spires is a band that I’m almost afraid to review at this point, because I already know that at least some of the points I will make, I will no longer agree with at a later time. This is because the level of metaphor and ideas that can be extracted from their music provides an inexhaustible resource for emotional processing and self-reflection. They are so honest and broadly relatable that after every significant experience of my life, I can return to the same songs and see them in an entirely new light. More than 7 years have passed since the release of the debut album, “Solveig”, and I’m still (re-)discovering that album now and then. All this to say that every Seven Spires album is a character that you can develop a long-term relationship with, and in this review, I have no way of describing to you the entire person, only the few first dates. But that’ll have to suffice.

The three previous albums were episodes of one singular, gigantic, over-the-top, adventurous, supernatural, mystical, metaphorical, inspirational, spiritual, reincarnational, multidimensional and indeed interdimensional story (sorry for the word soup). From all the conceptual works I’ve seen in music, the universe created by Seven Spires’ lore is one of the most fascinating. It provides a beautifully engaging and emotionally charged narrative with rich elements of fantasy, but also leaves room for questions, speculation, interpretation, and mystery. It is any fantasy nerd’s playground. But with “A  Fortress Called Home”, they decided to step out of the concept album format. As a result, this release feels a bit more chaotic, as well as more spontaneous. The structure and coherence given by a linear story is now shaken, and that means that they were able to become even more emotionally volatile than in their previous work. I would at this point take a chance at saying that Seven Spires is the most vulnerable metal band I know. Listening to this album feels like they’ve put their deepest and most visceral feelings on the table, ready to be devoured like Francesco Paoli in Fleshgod Apocalypse’s video to ‘Monnalisa’ (look it up if you don’t get the reference).

Seven Spires – Almosttown

But enough of my throwing cataclysmic emotional imagery in your face. Let’s get into the meat of things. In terms of sound, this is the rawest they’ve ever gone. I would call this their most black metal album, but I must stress that it is not black metal. Seven Spires always came as a blend of symphonic and power metal on one end, death and black metal on the other, with some space for orchestral pieces and hearty ballads in between. This is still very much the case here, but I feel specifically in terms of the mixing, mastering, and chosen sound textures, that it has the corrosive black metal edge heightened compared to their previous work. ‘Architect of Creation’ is undoubtedly the best track to show this.

In terms of technical skill, they’ve always been nuts. So naturally, the only way they could go from there is coconuts (that means bigger nuts). Basically, they’ve taken their already insane technical abilities and boosted them even further, but also integrated them in a form of composition that can contain all the ridiculous, virtuosic showmanship, in a way that is not only cohesive, but also artistically significant, every step of the way. Instead of striving to add technical sections, they found the moments that actually called for them, and threw their skills in there. For example, it makes sense to have swirling bass lines, blast beats and super high notes layered with visceral growls on the one section in the album that is intended to sound maddening (‘Love’s Souvenir’). It makes sense to use the most aggressive growls, powerful belting, and wall-of-sound style blasting on the song that sounds manic (‘Architect of Creation’), or to insert the nimblest transitions and cymbal play and the most playful guitar licks on the song that sounds vibrant and exciting (‘Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues’).

 Seven Spires – Architect of Creation

Chris Dovas is probably my favourite metal drummer at this point. There are many technical extreme metal drummers, but there are few that can also be tender, groovy and versatile like he is. He can play far more than death and black metal, and the artistry of his parts is never solely functional. The way the grooves, blasting sections and transitions are chained together makes the songs flow very naturally, both in terms of energy and structure. This is probably the last Seven Spires album we’re gonna get with Chris on drums, since he recently joined the mighty Testament as their new drummer, so I’m seizing the opportunity to praise him as much as humanly possible. Bassist Peter de Reyna integrates power metal rumbling, technical death metal bass solo moments, and jazz elements, into a concoction of bass wizardry that is, at this point, unique to him, and a true spectacle of swirling energy. Jack Kosto’s guitar riffs feel flatter on this album than on previous ones. There’s less attack on the guitar sound, and many riffs are focused on repetitive chugging and down picking or tremolo picking, but that is ideal for the sound on this album. It’s a strange combination that manages, without any unnecessary acrobatics, to seamlessly flow between symphonic power metal and death/black metal aesthetics, even within the same song. At times, I actually feel like the guitar is more of a functional instrument than the bass. Other times, it is the main melodic drive, particularly when a song has a good main theme (‘Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues’). While the riffs aren’t the primary focus of the instrumental ensemble, there are a ton of lead melodies and beautiful solos, specifically designed to take your guard down with a soulful melodic kick-off, before ripping through an absolute shred-fest. And there’s still some truly chonky moments (‘Almosttown’ bridge). Developing the solos from the song’s main theme, or “hook”, if you can actually call it that, has always been Jack’s way of keeping the solos integrated into the song without having to inhibit any of the fiery technical delivery. Oh yeah, and he also mixed and mastered the whole thing.

In terms of orchestrations, Adrienne Cowan has once again outdone herself. The amount of layered instruments is reaching a point where it’s impossible to keep track of everything that is stacking. The intro track, ‘A Fortress Called Home’, is the best to unpack all the layers, as they show up one by one, allowing you to notice every instrument in turn. Wind instruments of all sorts, cleverly used percussion, string sections, and even folky instruments, are all integrated in the layer of orchestration that grants the massive scale of the album’s soundscape. And it’s not just about the volume. The symphonic layer is very cinematic, suggestive of energy and movement in an almost tactile way. It can truly paint pictures. The digital instruments are so well chosen, mixed and integrated into the album’s sound that on my first listen, I had to go check whether they actually used a real orchestra this time around. They didn’t, except for that one lead violin in ‘Love’s Souvenir’.

Seven Spires – Portrait of Us

Vocally, Adrienne Cowan has undoubtedly given her best delivery to date. The epic power metal belting is reaching new heights (‘Love’s Souvenir’), and all her clean singing parts feel more relaxed and controlled. It’s like she reached a point where all the technique is so strongly ingrained in muscle memory that she can give her full focus towards accurately delivering the emotions of the songs. There’s warmth, comfort and desire in ‘Emerald Necklace’, free-spirited joy and excitement in ‘Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues’, squirming anguish in ‘Love’s Souvenir’, melancholy in ‘Almosttown’, frustration and disappointment in ‘Portrait of Us’. You name it, she’ll do it! There is no feeling she cannot deliver. And on the harsh spectrum of her vocals, she updated from your typical death metal scream and occasional Shagrath-like moments, to a full cocktail of extreme textures, ranging from visceral, dry black metal sounds (‘Architect of Creation’ verse), to demonic shrieks (‘Impossible Tower’) and even properly filthy moments (‘Architect of Creation’ bridge).

All this coming together makes ‘A Fortress Called Home’ an incredibly well-executed album from a sonic perspective. It has a unique signature sound that fits the entire album, despite songs varying from extreme metal monsters to groovy bangers, symphonic or power metal tunes, ballads and even some doom metal elements (‘Where Sorrows Bear My Name’). It moves all over the place stylistically but all the songs fit the overall vibe, and despite this not being a concept album, everything seems to revolve around the same theme. And that gets me to the lyrics.

I’ve generally hesitant to make absolute statements but I think this one is actually worth it. This album may have my favourite lyric writing in metal. It is pure poetry in the full sense of the word. Their ability to create suggestive and gripping imagery is so good that they can paint more beautiful scenes with words alone than Disney can with a full crew of camera people and truckloads of money spent on CGI. ‘Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues’ paints a scene of one isolated soul in a distant fortress, having a visitor after aeons spent in solitude, and getting to share stories together. It captures the scenery as well as the energy of the characters, the joy of company clashing with the dark and painful stories that are shared, and it even references the debut album, suggesting that these may be the same characters we’ve seen over the course of the first three albums, but leaving the time, place, and connection to the full story, unspecified. ‘Architect of Creation’ also sounds like it could work as a backstory to the debut album. Other songs just vaguely hint at previous work, like in ‘No Place For Us’, where we get the line “the way of the sun”, that translates to the band’s debut album title, “Solveig”. The lyrical approach also uses images, often as a metaphor for ideas. ‘Emerald Necklace’ ponders on where love goes beyond this life, whether there is an afterlife where two souls may find each other again. But the idea of heaven itself is painted as the Emerald Necklace of Boston. ‘Love’s Souvenir’ displays feelings of love and desire degenerating into a form of consuming torture, with visual elements of horror and decay creeping in (“Rotting away in bed”, “Cadavers keep the score”). ‘Almosttown’ talks about the consequences of self-isolation, avoidance and failing to pursue what is truly meaningful. ‘Portrait of Us’ shows toxic beliefs being inherited from previous generations. I could go on forever about the ideas explored in the lyrics. But at the same time, they way the words are matched is just so sonically pleasing. The skillful use of reoccurring symbolism is another fantastic feat to their writing, with the image of the fortress becoming the main motif of the album, representing self-defense and isolation.

Seven Spires – The Old Hurt of Being Left Behind

I had no intention of keeping this review short, because the band clearly had no intention of holding back from their true feelings, ideas and vision. So, if you’re still reading, I truly appreciate it. I encourage you to give this pure stroke of genius, a fully engaged listen. “A Fortress Called Home” cannot be called better or worse than previous albums, or compared to other bands. It is just raw and unfiltered in the best way possible, and that is all it needs to be. The care, passion, vulnerability and honesty that permeates every song is what makes Seven Spires’ music unique, and this monster of an album, truly worth your time.

Track List:

1. A Fortress Called Home (01:54)
2. Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues (07:46)
3. Almosttown (05:02)
4. Impossible Tower (06:14)
5. Love’s Souvenir (06:49)
6. Architect of Creation (05:32)
7. Portrait of Us (04:46)
8. Emerald Necklace (03:49)
9. Where Sorrows Bare My Name (05:44)
10. No Place For Us (04:56)
11. House Of Lies (04:43)
12. The Old Hurt of Being Left Behind (06:50)