Entry 764 - 1914 - Where Fear and Weapons Meet

Style: Death/black metal with a massive orchestra

Primary Emotions/Themes: The horrors of war

Thoughts: I am starting a huge undertaking. My primary goal for this blog now is to finish listening to all of the records I have. The unlistened records now have priority over everything else. To this point I've been listening to records randomly or as my fancy strikes. As of this entry that changes. I will now be listening to my missed records in alphabetical order. There will still be a few entries of new albums that come in from time to time - however that will no longer be the primary focus. I have less than 500 records left to chronicle, I want to get this done.

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"War... war never changes..." but maybe the music about it does. 

Until this point 1914 has been an intense blackened death metal band that takes no prisoners. They have unleashed a brutal assault of riffs with a tinge of melody that are designed to eviscerate any and all opponents that would rise up against them... that is until this point. 

Where Fear and Weapons Meet marks a change in the band's style. Not a huge one, but a change none the less. The band still focuses on longer songs that are chalk full of riffs so violent that death is a mercy. However, now they are complimented by a full on orchestra. 

Now before I go too far down this path, 1914 has not gone full Fleshgod Apocalypse where the orchestra is essentially a member of the band. In this album the orchestra plays a complimentary role, it accents the music that 1914 creates. The orchestra comes in during key moments - they compliment the massacre, rather than dominate it. 

What makes this album truly excellent is the fact that the orchestra is not needed. The riffs are excellent without their addition, but they are made truly great with their inclusion. They also know when to pull back the orchestra and let the metal elements dominate the sound. Nothing is too extreme here, the music is in full equilibrium and it has the killing capacity of a mortar.

If there is one thing that 1914 does well it's create a memorable record. Every single song on Where Fear and Weapons Meet has at least one moment where I go "holy shit that is good." That's a rare quality for an album to have. This is the kind of band that has me chomping at the bit for more, even at an hour album length. Zero waste, everything has its place. I can only hope that they release another one in the coming years that is of equal quality. 

Written April 13th 2024