Promising, but needs an injection of originality
Finnish quartet Farmakon have only been together as a group for around 18 months or so, and the UK's Elistist Records, which is a sub label of the legendary Earache Records, were quick to sign this young band after hearing two tracks. These guys have produced quite a technical and diverse sounding album that at the same time, does show them wearing their influences boldly on their collective sleeves.
For quite a fair amount of both the music and the vocal style of Marko Eskola, it's very easy to see that these guys are quite heavily influenced by Sweden's Opeth. There is a fine line between showing your influences and almost copying them and with this album, they sometimes overstep that mark. However, the odd curve ball or three is thrown at the listener as songs move to and from anything such as a jazz breakdown to thrash to even some Mr. Bungle type patterns.
This is an impressive debut even with the aforementioned obvious influences throughout its 9 tracks. A Warm Glimpse is exactly as the title suggests - a glimpse into the potential that this band has. Hopefully, this album will become merely a starting point for these guys to really show their true potential by moving forward and truly defining themselves musically whilst moving further away from the sounds and styles of those who influenced them.
(Elistist/Earache)
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