Feversea – Man Under Erasure review

01. Man Under Erasure
02. Murmur Within The Skull Of God
03. New Creatures Replace Our Names
04. Decider
05. Sunkindling
06. Invocation
07. Until It Goes Away
08. Kindred Spirit

As much as it is possibly my favourite genre within metal, post-metal does have a tendency of producing new bands that conform to a very particular sound that has lost some of its charm with excessive imitation. As such, it’s very exciting when a new band comes around that retains strengths of the genre while sounding very fresh and unique.

A fine example of this are Feversea, a Norwegian quintet that have followed up a 2023 demo with debut full-length album Man Under Erasure. The title refers to the brutalization of man in the modern era, and the erasure of humanism as mankind loses faith in one another and society as a whole. To render these bleak sentiments, Feversea craft a style of post-black metal that places blackened extremity alongside sludgy heft, post-rock soundscaping, and additional hints of styles such as post-punk and neofolk. The end result is one that exhibits traits of established bands within these genres, but cannot be pigeonholed into any one particular niche.

Man Under Erasure is perhaps oddest in its opening moments; the synth-heavy introductory title track might take one’s mind to acts such as The Lion’s Daughter, while the hushed male spoken word accompanying it is grizzled and authoritative. As it turns out, the vocals otherwise on the album are delivered by a more tender and versatile voice, that of Ada Lønne Emberland. There’s a variety of clean vocals on display from her, whether seductive (“Murmur Within The Skull Of God”), haunting (“New Creatures Replace Our Names”) or aching (“Decider”), but she also effortlessly delivers fierce shrieks and rasps.

Feversea fulfil both parts of the ‘post-black’ promise; when they’re in black metal mode, it’s uncompromising, whether it be dissonant blasting as in “New Creatures Replace Our Names” or the soaring blackgaze tremolos of “Sunkindling”, but the dynamics of Man Under Erasure belong firmly to post-metal, and the band regularly depart from black metal territory in favor of sludgier sounds (“Invocation”) or those more tied to post-rock (sections of “Decider”), not to mention cameos of hardcore as found in the likes of “Until It Goes Away”. Feversea draw from a host of different influences and styles on this debut album, but what’s more remarkable is how accomplished the execution is in each instance.

“Murmur Within The Skull Of God” is one of the most consistently blackened and intense songs here, with regular blasts and murky dissonance-tinged riffs, but the song’s climax takes an unexpected turn by weaving in bright melodic post-rock tremolo textures alongside the harsh vocals and blackened bleakness. Man Under Erasure isn’t a classic song structure-oriented album, but right afterwards comes “New Creatures Replace Our Names”, with its up-and-down vocal melody in its chorus and understated, gloomy black-tinged verses. It also goes in the opposite direction to its predecessor in the tracklist by dedicating its final minutes to blistering, malevolent black metal fury.

The songs all vary quite substantially from one another, and each has its own charm, whether it be the soaring tremolos of “Sunkindling”, the brooding mid-tempo pace and powerful sludgy riffs in “Invocation”, or bleak closing refrain of “Until It Goes Away”. However, the album’s highlights are arguably its two longest tracks. “Decider” is a real attention-grabber, bordering on Enslaved territory at times in black metal mode while also weaving in angelic vocals mid-song and a truly resonant clean-heavy climax. Album closer “Kindred Spirit” goes in almost the opposite direction, exploring quiet, more contemplate atmospheres for much of its duration and allowing Emberland’s singing to shine, before unleashing hell in a pained, frantic atmo-black conclusion.

Post-black metal has taken on a number of different forms in the past few years; I can’t think of any band that delivered quite what Feversea offer here stylistically, nor can I think of many that are quite as accomplished in the process. For a first proper release, Man Under Erasure is a really impressive introduction of the band to the metal community, and it’s likely to rank among the standout debut albums of 2025 come year end.

Written on 04.06.2025 by Hey chief let’s talk why not