Professionally duplicated CD in DVD case.
Neo-medieval fantasy ambient conceived by the Ill-Made Knight, MALFET. Alban Arthan (the Light of Arthur) is named for a modern druidic celebration of the dawning of a new year, wherein the Oak King returns to wrestle power away from the Holly King, gradually driving out wintry darkness with dawning sunlight as the eternal wheel of seasons turns.
MALFET's third full-length album is a rumination on dreams and death. The flickering torchlight and subterranean abysses of mourning are tempered with the relief found in dreams, where friends who have passed into the unknowable realms are reunited and pale fantasies blossom in cheer. Down labyrinthine passages of stone that seem to dance in shadow, echoes of ancient melodies, some plaintive, others blithely redolent, emanate from the naves of dusky halls. Snatches of lost rhapsodists - the ancient blind harpist, the beautiful young shieldmaiden cut down well before her time - may be recognized among the many new and unfamiliar strains. Bittersweet threnodies plucked by dulcimer and harp follow gentle flute arias and folkish themes by tabor and pipe. It is an ambitious undertaking, these dungeon synth lieder ohne worte, to memorialize fallen brethren and sisters without losing what small snatches of light still glow in this crepuscular chapel. The fair and sunny fields of Avalon and that Snaking Path through shadowy forests lie behind us - a deeper, more arduous journey lies ahead, perhaps all the more rewarding to traverse.
Recommended for listeners of MORTIIS, OLD TOWER, NEST, ACHEULEAN FORESTS, FÓRNDOM, SEPHIROTH.
Review
Few acts hold as much focus, creativity and thoroughness therein as Malfet, not to mention that certain something that touches the very core of a person - the way a melody resolves, or simply the tone of a sustained chord. Malfet possesses these characteristics, what's more they wield these spells with a masterful restraint, as if their true powers would blind us. - Decibel 4/5
