Album Review: Smote - Songs From The Free House
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
Smote first came to my attention at the back end of 2024, when a good friend of mine had their last release. “A Grand Stream” as his Album of the Year. Smote, are the brainchild of Daniel Foggin, who has spent most of his adult life as a landscape gardener and I was genuinely blow away by the live performance in Manchester at the start of this year with the assembled musicians.
It's difficult to know where to start with this as the creativityhas flowed seamlessly from his previous album onto this one, and as “The Cottar” begins its gentle ascent, you are immediately transported to another dimension, where heaviness has no limits. Your auditory senses are on high alert, as the evocative flute is juxtaposed with the droning soundscape, leaving some feeling overwhelmed. It’s the repetitive nature of the music that impresses me most, andwhen seen live, it’s hard to forget, as your body is shaken to its very core.
The crackling ending of the first track leads into a calmness full of eastern promise on “The Linton Wyrm”. This is a song inspired by Foggin’s everyday surroundings, and “is a story, allegedly about a knight called John De Sommerville”. It has almost demonic, chilling chants throughout, akin to a ritual, wrapped around the hauntingly hypnotic sounds. It’s how he manages to extrapolate the industrial robustness of electronica to create heavy music that is exceptionally impressive.
Having witnessed Smote in all their glory again in September, I was privileged to have heard “Snodgerrs” live, and it was like watching a work of art coming to life. The flute is dreamy and floats around your brain for days, before the drums take complete control. It’s such an atmospheric track, that you’d be forgiven if you walked around in a daze when listening to it, as they combine harsh realities to make music that you want to embrace like a loved one.
“Chamber” is another 10-minute masterpiece, which pulls your emotions all over the place. The tranquil nature of the flute, next to the sombreness of the droning noise, creates an uneasiness as you have no idea what twists and turns lie ahead. Poignant vocals appear that will stir any conscience mind, followed by a crushing heaviness that ploughs its own furrow in the journey that Foggin has embarked upon.
There are only five tracks, with “Wynne” bringing up the rear, but if you manage to survive the metronomic onslaught, then you’ll find that this album is something to cherish and share with as many people as possible. The final song is another explorative look at ways of putting together a unique series of noises and repetitive beats, to form a piece of music that will hopefully change people’s opinions of drone-based compositions. This is currently a short journey that I’ve been on with Smote over the last twelve months, but I’m firmly along for the ride.
