Fen

Fen draws its moniker from the Fenlands, that sodden coastal expanse stretching across eastern England. The blackgaze and post-metal outfit layers glacial slabs of decaying atmosphere atop tumbling riffs that summon the ghostly black metal of Agalloch and Wolves in the Throne Room. The trio surfaced in 2009 via The Malediction Fields and has since sharpened its post-black metal approach across lauded albums such as Carrion Skies (2014) and The Dead Light (2019).

Formed in 2006 by the Watcher on vocals, guitars, and synths, Grungyn on bass and vocals, and Havenless on drums, the group signed with Code 666 soon after its inception. Its first EP, Ancient Sorrow, appeared in 2007, followed by the second EP, Onset of Winter, in 2008 and the debut full-length The Malediction Fields in 2009. A 2010 slot at the Damnation Festival alongside Sabbat and Lawnmower Deth helped anchor the band within the U.K. extreme metal circuit, momentum that carried into the well-received Epoch the following year. A split EP with Sweden’s De Arma surfaced later in 2011, after which Fen issued its third studio album, Dustwalker, in 2012. Carrion Skies arrived two years later, succeeded in 2016 by another split EP, this time with Russian occult metallers Sleepwalker. The cold, bleak, and epic—fittingly titled—Winter emerged in 2017, while Dead Light, the band’s sixth LP, followed in 2019.