EP Review: Fields of Regret by Fields of Regret (Bassick Records)

Fields of Regret is preparing to unveil their self-titled, horror fuelled, gothic metal and punk offering on November 18th.

The brainchild of a Belgian based musician Filip Van Lysebeth, the project unleashes monstrous and disturbing compositions. Van Lysebeth is no stranger to the industry having previously worked as producer at Bassick Records with the likes of Marco Minneman (Kreator), Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa), Adam Dice (Puff Daddy), Garry Hagger, Byentl, and Bruno Meeus (Wizards of Oz).

Fields of Regret represents horror metal in all its glory. Offering a mean dark voice akin to Vincent Price, heavy down-tuned guitars, basslines that are a nightmare for your furniture and drums that kick through walls! Fields of Regret’s lyrics are mostly inspired by autobiographic themes including bipolar disorder, Lithium, depression, grieve, loyalty, MeToo movement. Musically drawing influences from an array of metal artists including Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Korn and Type O Negative.

Fields of Regret bring us 5 horror infused tracks on this self-titled debut starting with the opener, Zu All The Ant. It’s a fuzzy, distorted start before turning into a carnival like riff with creepy grunted vocals through the verse. The chorus adds a little more crunch and distortion over shots of the songs title. There is a neat little instrumental/solo section with decent drums and quirky sounds making for an interesting, but also odd song.

The first single, Pinky Lace And Pixie Dust is up next and kicks off with a nice loose drum beat and riff before a higher-toned guitar smashes out some melodic lines. The verses keep the riff running through with splatterings of melodic guitars over the vocals. A sudden stop to an echoed vocal passage sets the tone for an explosion of speedier music to follow. The tone on the guitars is almost chip tune at points and offers a strange but neat contrast to the dirtier riffing.

Algoritmic Lie keeps the quirkiness at the forefront with a blend of intriguing sounds and notes, a crunchy riff, creepy vocals and sudden blasts of high-toned melody. The spoken/sung vocal section really pits the horror theme across well. It has a more poppy feel to the structure overall but then just gets twisted into a thought probing song that makes you challenge the norm. The title track, Fields of Regret, really ups the heaviness with some strong riffing and sinister vocals. The guitar melody continues to offer that contrast from the darker, fuzzier riffing and drums. The instrumental section in this song really offers a nice moment to headbang along to and enjoy it.

We close this slightly insane release out with Tattoos And Tears. That chip tune feel runs strong in the intro with video game like melody making you feel like you are in a boss battle. I don’t think that was the aim but that is what I am hearing. Like everything I have heard so far on Fields of Regret, this tracks twists and turns in maniacal fashion leaving you often confused, challenged and intrigued. There are some really strong riffs and guitar melodies in this big closer though and the echoing vocals certainly have plenty of horror vibes.

So Fields of Regret comes to a close and I have to be honest, part of me thinks it’s a work of genius while another part screams “what the fuck is this”. I love that it challenges the normal, at least my normal. It’s an oddity, full of quirk and craziness with contrasting sounds, heavy riffs, Alice Cooper esque vocals at points – there is a lot happening. Luckily it is all built mostly on a foundation of strong drums and riffs. That gives a small sense of safety in the music while the layers above that twist and turn, often into madness leaving you unsure how you feel about the release, but definitely knowing it has invoked some feeling.

On a personal level, this isn’t really my cup of tea. The oddities in structure and style don’t always work for my tiny mind that likes pattern and structure. I can see this amassing a cult like following though and am impressed with the ingenuity on offer. I would strongly encourage checking it out to see what impact it has on you.

Head over to Bandcamp, or watch out for its streaming release on the 18th of November.

Fields of Regret Links

Facebook – YouTube – Spotify  – Bandcamp