Album Review: Fumes - Skeletal Wings Threshold
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Formed as recently as 2022, Fumes are an old-school Black Metal four-piece who hail from Mexico City and are here to show the world that the darkness is not exclusive to the stygian forests and frozen planes of Scandinavia.
The quartet wasted no time in releasing their first product, 2022’s Stellar Murder Upwards, which featured a trio of compositions, including an interlude; the two actual songs from that EP can also be found here. Both Plaguestorms and Dead Morning Star still hold the fiery youthful exuberance you would expect from angry young men finding their collective voices. Plaguestorm come out swinging and is fast and furious, maintaining that level of raw aggression throughout the run-time, yet still managing to include some interesting interplay between Minos’ drums and dual guitars of Henry and Alanis.
Dead Morning Star imbues its cacophonous racket with a more measured mid-section, the triplet heavy riffing seemingly more at home in Sweden than Norway, though Alanis’ vicious barks don’t appear to differentiate across borders. Subsequent versions of the EP included the addition “raw version” of Kamazotz, slower and more evil sounding for the reduction in pace, it charges toward a huge, crashing climax.
Fumes’ other previous release is a VHS Video session, released in December of 2023 and, other than the already mentioned, included the Trve Cult sound of Supperation Tunnels, in which sawing, howling guitars and a full-throttle break-neck pace leave the listener in little doubt that no compromise will be given here.
Skeletal Wings Threshold is therefore Fumes’ debut full-length and in addition to the aforementioned tunes, the band’s more up-to-date output demonstrates the band have not been resting on their laurels but have been honing and shaping their creative vision.
Opening with Stellar Ascension Infernal, we’re served up some mid-paced blasts and low-fi grit, as frosty as anything Scandinavia has to offer and with some fat bridges and hook-laden guitar runs. Hollow Teeth of Darkness is built around a choppy riff and an epic breakdown, and lends itself to comparisons with fist-pumping, anthemic NWOBHM in its final quarter.
Sitting central is Carrier of Venenifyer, with an opening big enough to shake the foundations of Pandemonium itself, it’s a piece that revels in its slow and steady first half, creating a dense atmosphere before cutting loose and showing a shade of early Slayer as it breaks into the blasts. It’s a real voyage of a tune, reaching high into the dark night sky while simultaneously dredging the lowest points of the abyss.
The momentum of the album’s second half is a little disrupted by three sub-two-minute interludes; Passage I has a watery feel and acts as an unofficial intro to Hollow Teeth of Darkness; while Passage II becomes Plaguestorms’ ominous opening. The final Passage III closes the album with an upbeat feel. I would have preferred just eight tracks and the time spent to be used on another raging blasphemy; or have the interludes more evenly spaced across the record.
Small criticism, as musically, Fumes’ Skeletal Wings Threshold is a fine and effective debut record that shows the diabolical influence of the Lords of Chaos is still being felt across the globe.
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