On Ithenfal's Wing is a progressive/alternative rock band from Florida that released Key To Then back in 2018. The band mentions the album begins a story with themes of time, tyranny, imprisonment, revenge, loss, endurance, courage, illness and death.
The album begins with “Once Beneath a Peaceful Moon” which revolves around a slow beat and sheets of distortion from the guitars and vocals. I thought the vocals were very melodramatic and delivered in a way that very few singers like Nick Cave can pull off properly. It sounded great. The mood gets slightly more festive on “Awakened” but not by much. It’s still very dark like the first songs. The vocals this time around are a little more dynamic but there is still a very dramatic vocal affectation as if I was being told a creepy story. “Chained Master” is similar and I was really starting to feel a fantasy theme with these songs like Lord of the Rings. The lyrics and vocals felt like I was told a fable. It reminded me of Spinal Tap. I’m not sure what was happening with the drums on these songs. I couldn’t tell if this was a recorded set of electronics. “Between the Shore and Fog” is more metal then anything that came before it while “Through the Black Thorn of Brethil” is a dark ballad with blazing guitar solos. “The Last of the Istari,”“Dark Vast Woods” and “Bugbear” had a similar quality to the previous songs. “A Haunting Farewell” was a highlight to me. The clean production and subtle vocals really worked for them and I wanted more songs like this. They close with a ballad called “Key to Then.” As an engineer myself, my one criticism was that I had a hard time getting past the lo-fi quailty of some of the recordings. I wanted more fidelity at times especially with the heavier songs. The band goes for an unapologetic fantasy based theme that goes all in. It’s approved and delivered without any levity. As a fan of the fantasy genre I felt like they did a good job encompassing that milieu.
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