The Fall Of Troy – Phantom On The Horizon
The Fall of Troy, hailing from Mukilteo Washington, a half hour up the I-5 from Seattle, have gone through a lot, since forming in 2002. There rough around the edges, self titled debut, garnered them attention, and combined with their off the charts live show, The Fall Of Troy went about earning critical praise, and a rabid, highly dedicated fan base, all while honing their skills, and continually attempting to push themselves to a higher level. They released a much more polished album in 2005 in the form of doppelganger, produced by Barrett Jones. The album managed to find a certain level of success with the song F.C.P.R.E.M.IX. finding it’s way onto several major video games including Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock. It was following the release of Doppelganger and the subsequent touring that followed, which led lead singer/guitarist Thomas Erak to state, on stage, that this would be the last show that they ever played together as a band. Shortly after Erak’s public assertion the band used their website to declare themselves on an indefinite hiatus that didn’t last long. After some much needed time off, The Fall Of Troy went back into the studio with producer, and original keyboardist for Seattle band Minus The Bear, Mat Bayles. The result was 2007’s Manipulator which saw the band take their craft to new heights, finding ways to improve on the ruthless thrash elements of their songs, while creating a more fluid and melodic sound, that had many hardcore fans questioning whether TFOT had been attempting to change in order to sell a few more albums.
Flash forward and it’s late in 2008, November 28th, to be precise, when The Fall Of Troy, Erak, drummer Andrew Forsman and new bassist/singer Frank Black, have just released a truly limited edition EP, Phantom On The Horizon. The band has only printed 3 000 hard copies of the disc which is exclusive to their own online store and the merch table of their current headlining tour.
Phantom on the Horizon is a re-recording of a series of demo’s that leaked onto the internet four years ago and had already found their way onto the iPod’s of all of The Fall Of Troy’s fans. Produced by Casey Bates, Phantom On The Horizon is described as one song separated into chapters, and it flows like a 32 minute song, with all of the signature Fall Of Troy screaming, thrashing guitars, and more time changes from Forsman than you can shake a really big stick at. The main difference comes in Erak’s decision to no longer limit his vocals to the shrieking and screaming variety, but to take is vocal chords out for a walk and see what they can do. There are moments where, as a friend of mine put it, Erak sounds like a rejected contestant from American Idol. And while Erak’s crooning ability doesn’t match up with the likes of Anthony Green or Craig Owens, he manages to hold his own and create some powerful contrast between his high pitched scream, and his more melodic singing.
Phantom also finds itself with several moments of quiet reflection, a rarity on most Fall Of Troy albums where the band slow everything down, and lull you into a false sense of security before they speed everything up again to a frenetic pace, and hit you over the head with their untouchable musicianship.
Phantom on the Horizon is an album that sucks you in, swishes you around and spits you back out again, but still leaves you reaching for the dial on your pod, to start the whole ride over again, and to crank the volume. The Fall Of Troy continue to hone their sound and their craft, and Phantom is an incredible ride that points at a band that’s only getting better.
The Fall Of Troy – Chapter V – The Walls Bled Lust
The Fall OF Troy – Chapter III – Nostalgic Mannerisims
The Fall Of Troy – Chapter I – Introverting Dimensions
- Aaron Long
Tags: album, Fall Of Toy, Mathcore, Phantom On The Horizon, post-hardcore, Progressive, Thomas Erak
