ROBIN

"Robin" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Finnish, Tampere based progressive death metal act Farmakon. The album was released through Four Seasons in February 2007. It´s the successor to "A Warm Glimpse" from 2003 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Riku Airisto has been replaced by Matti Auerkallio. Farmakon formed in 2001 and disbanded in 2010, releasing two demos, one single, and two full-length studio albums in that period.

Right off the bat on opening track "Time-Tables" the strong Opeth influence of "A Warm Glimpse (2003)" is again clearly heard. So this is a continuation of the progressive death metal sound of the predecessor, featuring heavy riffs, intriguing melodic leads and solos, acoustic breaks, and both growling and clean male vocals (and some higher pitched screaming vocals too). Although Farmakon are at times close to being Opeth clones, they do have a lot of ideas of their own. There is an occasional tecnical death/thrash metal edge to their music and also a slight nod towards fusion in the way the drums are played, which the more famous Swedes don´t have in their music. "A Warm Glimpse (2003)" featured some odd musical ideas and sections with elements from funk, blues, and fusion/jazz, but "Robin" is a less eclectic release, and to my ears that´s a good thing, as many of the quirky musical ideas of the predecessor made it an uneven and in some ways unsatisfying listen. Farmakon have obviously come to the same conclusion and "Robin" is a stylistically consistent release, and when the band do decide to step outside their core sound, the experiments work relatively well (at least better than they did on the debut album).

The quality of the material is also relatively high throughout and "Robin" features a heavy, dark, and well sounding production too. Add to that high level musicianship (the clean vocals have improved greatly since the predecessor and they are fewer here too), and "Robin" is upon conclusion a good quality progressive death metal release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)