‘The Ground Below’ is a brave and inimitable statement that re-draws a line in the sands of Metal tradition. Famyne boldly marches over the limits, re-riffing the rules, washing listeners in pristine waves of hypnotic melody on 8 tablets of stone-carved ageless songs that “The Ground Below” lays on the altar. Tracks like For My Sins and Babylon conjure paragon English Doom with a long line of lineage like country-mates Warning, Paradise Lost, Pagan Altar, and Cathedral to songs like A Submarine where warm oceans of sweeping guitars and wide-screen desperate euphony bring to mind
genre-changing pioneers like Anathema and Porcupine Tree.
Mind-blowing Lead vocalist Tom Vane’s omnipotent vocals deliver the shivers in dynamite doses, unearthing perfect hair-raising emotions that are at once timeless and freshly captivating. It is an understatement to acknowledge how exceptionally unforgettable Famyne’s distinct voice is. The guitars of Martin Emmons and Tom Ross range from an Iommi masterclass to Åkerfeldt progression in a heartbeat, delivering breath-taking riff-mountains that are sumptuously original and catchy in both style and opulent panache. It
is Famyne’s canny confidence to re-mold traditional Doom metal artistry with their own wave of emotive progression that makes “The Ground Below” a brilliant restoration of the craft, reminding us how crushing and poignant innovative Doom Metal can be if done with passion. Fans of everything from Opeth, Katatonia to Soundgarden and all the trad legends of Sabbath, St Vitus, and Solitude Aeturnus will be suitably wowed in Famyne’s wake. “The Ground Below” is a modern classic, reverential but so supremely powerful that Famyne have securely carved their own place on the monoliths of the future.
