FABRICANT
FABRICANT “Drudge To The Thicket”
By Lord Randall
I remember FABRICANT. You might as well. Founders Troy Roberts and Pendath basically split tasks evenly for a demo in November 2010 that turned more than a few heads. The iron being hot, they struck, the “Drudge To The Thicket” demo/single appearing with an expanded lineup by year’s end. 2013 comes, and a split with the short-lived APOCRYPHON seemed to also spell the end for FABRICANT. So, here we are, two full decades later, the duo returning, augmented by bassist Ryan Daugherty.
“Prey To Whom” bursts forth, blooming twisted beats and distorting riffs, almost like an incredibly more polished DEIQUISITOR. While the song holds interest --though, only just-- and leads into ‘Eloper’s Revelations’. Hey! Guess what? It’s more of the same...however there’s a sense of memorability here that may call for attention. As it stands, “Demigod Prototype” and “Song Of Stillness” blast past, the latter injecting a pinch of funk into the bassline(s), and the first number on FABRICANT’s first full-length that I feel represents a band trying to achieve something with a bit more permanence than simply stress-testing their technical proficiency for all who might be impressed by such.
“Headless” seems as if something actually approaching songcraft might be at work, but is too-quickly yanked back into the utterly yawn-inducing musical circle-jerk the trio seems to find so intriguing – at least for themselves. The title of “Adrift The Sleepless Swamp” gave me hope, smatterings of TIMEGHOUL and latter-day NOCTURNUS AD in the previously annoying shifting time signatures.
While “Until The Heavens Grow Dark” is impressive, and works ideally as a closer for this jumbled mass of thorns and brambles, it’s too little too late for these ears, even after repeated spins. Apparently the “what if?” ghost always haunted Roberts and Pendath, so I’m sure they feel some sense of relief. I do wonder, though, if they beat off to their own play-through videos. As an album listener, it’s simply not worth the drudgery that is this thicket to get to the more interesting material at the end.