A Warm Glimpse
[Earache Records]

Here's a new band that's guaranteed to turn some heads. Finland's Farmakon is an unusual band to say the least, with a multitude of influences and styles. At times, one is amazed that this is a debut. Still, there are many indications that this is a young band that needs to mature and shed its influences.

Farmakon combine progressive death/doom (a la Opeth) with the newer thrash style (a la The Haunted and The Crown), and add in a healthy dose of modern alternative, funk, and jazz fusion. This may sound like an odd combination, but they somehow pull it off very smoothly and successfully. At times, they remind me of a more metallic Mr.Bungle, with constantly shifting moods and stop-on-a-dime stylistic changes. While there are some avant garde leanings, it never struck me that they were being weird for the sake of being weird (with the possible exception of the middle section of "Flavoured Numerology").

The most impressive feature of Farmakon's sound is singer/bassist Marko Eskola's voice. He has a very deep death growl reminiscent of Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt. Add to that a Mike Patton-ish clean vocal style (in terms of style and delivery), and you have one versatile vocalist. Marko's clean vocals are very pop-ish, in that they are quite smooth and refined. While some hardened metal fans may not care for them, I feel it only serves to further enhance the contrast of musical styles. Another vocalist that comes to mind when hearing Marko's clean style is Keith Caputo from Life Of Agony, particularly on "Loosely Of Amoebas".

On the whole, Farmakon have a fairly unique style and sound. When broken down, however, their influences are a little too apparent. Opeth comparisons are painfully inevitable, not only for the heavier sections, but also in many of the clean electric and acoustic guitar sections. Some of the softer sections tend to wander a bit, but the songs aren't of Opeth's epic length, so they don't wear out their welcome. The thrash influences are a little less obvious, as they play a sort of The Haunted/The Crown/Carnal Forge style that never borrows from one band specifically. They don't really forge a style of their own here, however. The funk sections aren't just a novelty, as the bass player and drummer play fairly authentic rhythms and patterns. Thankfully, the band utilizes their non-metal influences somewhat sparingly, using just enough to keep things interesting.

The band produced the album themselves, and they do quite a good job. The overall sound is somewhat dry and midrange-y, and every instrument is well recorded and mixed. The bass guitar is mixed especially well, for in much death metal it is hardly audible. Hats off to the band for not making this the aural train wreck it could have easily been, as music with such diparate elements has the potential to be a sonic nightmare.

I like this band a lot, but I feel they have a lot of room to grow. With some maturation and shedding of the Opeth influence, Farmakon could certainly be one of the more interesting and different extreme metal bands out there. If you love Opeth but crave something a little different, then Farmakon is the band you have been looking for.