Malfet – The Way to Avalon

Band: Malfet
Title: The Way to Avalon
Label: Pacific Threnodies
Release date: 1 July  2019
Country: USA
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Coming across new artist you have never heard of before can be risky. You never know what can cross your path and often enough in my case; I judge the book by its cover.

The solo artist MALFET struck me in that way with his new album “The Way to Avalon”, having released it on the first of July this year it was something I had never heard of before, however the name of the album combined with the colorful artwork containing castles and forests made me think that this must be some sort of a fantasy metal. Power, perhaps?

The typical intro track with the same name as the album roars with distant thunder, echoing piano and orchestral elements sounding like they are coming from the very hallways of melancholy. Intrigued I was ready for the metal I was sure was ahead! Hit me with your best shot I thought to myself because the intensity with the track grew as it advanced.

It didn’t go exactly as I thought. The excitement rather calmed down with the second track, “Within Llyn Ogwen” as it was rather similar to the intro track. The beautiful melody is soothing, creating an atmosphere with incredibly delicate touch to detail and tasteful arrangements. The darkness in the track creates hope and yet sadness. Picture yourself a child running around laughing, while chasing a butterfly on a nice meadow next to a burning wasteland of death and destruction.

And that is the way this album goes. Metal element is missing as far as the ear can hear, and yet I personally am not disappointed. The metal element is created in the feeling and pictures of the mind of the listener, and yet you don’t necessarily need your entire and full attention while listening. I’m a huge fan of having things in the background while doing other things and this album is perfect for such. And yet, with full attention there is still a lot to discover with such melodies. The songs are all quite similar in the feel and atmosphere, but do not get boring or old. It simply works, and it made me feel so relaxed that it was like stepping out of a hot bubble bath.

MALFET has done a good job with this one. This album could very well contain soundtracks for a movie or a video game, setting the mood for both battles and emotional moments in said media. You get the feeling of following a story, even if there are no lyrics except in the final track, and the tracks transitions beautifully. The music could be described as some kind of dungeon music, with many elements from what we today would call medieval folk. MALFET’s touch for making dark music with light sounding topping is impressive. Its epic yet minimalistic. It’s not metal, but it’s pretty damn good. 7/10 Julia

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