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Foscor

Catalonia's Foscor is a progressive metal band from Catalonia. Their name translates as "darkness" and their lyrics are written exclusively in their native tongue. They began life as a second wave black metal outfit complete with tremolo picking, blastbeats, and harsh, screamed vocals on their debut long-player, 2004's Entrance to the Shadow Village. Since that time, their musical approach has absorbed atmospheric, folk, prog and melodic post-metal tenets effected by various personnel changes. A radical change in lead vocalist Fiar's singing to a clean, melodic style with progressively twinned lead guitar lines -- evidenced amply on 2017's Les Irreals Visions -- makes them sound virtually unrecognizable from their former incarnation, at least to untrained ears. If there is an apt aesthetic comparison, it's to Swedish contemporaries Katatonia, who have traveled a remarkably similar path. Foscor was founded in 1997 by then-Lux Divina members Fiar on bass and guitarist Falke. Initially, they were an instrumental black metal duo existing only as a recording studio project. Two years later, they built their own Notiflorous Productions studio and began recording their first songs. They enlisted bandmate vocalist/lyricist Norax (Lux Divina) and issued a three-song extended-play demo in 2001 that they sent around in hopes of getting a label deal. In 2003 they issued a split with blackened folk metallers Xerion in an edition of 300 copies. In addition to the three previously issued demo tracks, they added a newly recorded cover version of their companion band's "Na Noite das Tempas." (Xerion covered two songs by Foscor as well.) The set made the rounds of metal zines across Europe and was favorably reviewed. It secured Foscor a record contract with France's Sacral Productions, which issued their classic second wave 2004 debut long-player Entrance to the Shadow Village. The album was acclaimed for its use of dynamic interpretation of black metal. The band began playing live with different acts in Spain and France. They shared stages with Kampfar, Necroschristos, Machetazo, and Frostmoon Eclipse, among others. In 2006 Norax left the group to form Fayrierie, and Fiar became the lead vocalist. Foscor followed with a four-song demo entitled ...Narrow Is the Path to Darkness... that same year, on their Notiflorous Productions label. Given that they added guitarist Wilkhiem and drummer Nechrist, it signified the first real shift in their sound as folk elements appeared alongside black metal. Based on the strength of the live appearances and their second demo, Foscor signed with Temple of Darkness Records, which gave them not only a recording budget but one for promotion as well. The band released the Smile of the Sad Ones in 2007. Marking their initial recorded exercise in dark metal, they hit the road, performing across Spain and Portugal with Swallow the Sun, Forgotten Tomb, and others. The recording drew rave reviews from both sides of the Atlantic. With the exception of a pair of singles, Foscor spent their time touring France and Spain (with Shining and Farsot among others), and shifting their collective energies to their website, all the while writing new material. Their third album, Groans to the Guilty was released in 2009 on Temple of Darkness and found them adding tenets of progressive metal to their mix of styles. The band was celebrated on the internet and in print and they toured almost constantly for the next two years in support. They signed with Stigia Management, which helped them get touring spots at festivals and across the European continent. In 2013, Deu Anys Vers la Foscor, a live video and extremely limited cassette, appeared from Ruptura Records. It was the last outing to feature Wilkhiem. In 2014, the single "Graceful Pandora" announced the addition of new guitarist A.M. (Albert Marti), and a further shift toward dark progressive metal. Issued by Alone Records, Those Horrors Wither also featured guest spots from members of Obsidian Kingdom. Three songs -- "Addiction," "L.Amor. T," and "To Strangle a Ghost" -- were the band's first to feature clean vocals. It was their final date to feature the trappings of black metal and drummer Nechrist. After another two years of touring and increasing their fan base, Foscor signed with the well-equipped indie Season of Mist and commenced recording what would become 2017's Les Irreals Versions, the beginning of a proposed trilogy. Issued in June, the set connected the fin de siècle cultural movement of modernism which ran parallel to the development of Art Nouveau and Jugendstil. Musically, this was dark progressive metal, rich in atmospherics and shifting dynamics and textures. Its subject reflected on morbid and decadent behaviors in a rapidly changing society, and the artistic landscape at the end of the 19th century, one that offers striking parallels to our own. Season of Mist, buoyed by the album's critical and commercial success, issued a special edition in 2018 that included six tracks from previous outings intimately re-recorded in their current style. Guests included Jordi Farré (Apologoethia, Vidres a la Sang) on drums. After performances at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, Foscor returned to the studio without a break. The trio of Fiar, Falke and A.M. (with assistance from Farré and Obsidian Kingdom keyboardist Esteban Portero) underwent another transformation with Els Sepulcres Blancs. Though the band continued the historical exploration of art and society begun on Les Irreals Versions, the second part of its trilogy tempered the previous album's unrelenting darkness with a triumphant and uplifting sonic edge, heightened atmospherics and hooks, and a pronounced dramatic flair. Released in early September, the album won positive reviews from outside the confines of the metal genre and was featured as a highlight on a variety of streaming outlets.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo

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