Frayle Deliver Anthems for the Persecuted Via ‘1692’ (album stream) (premiere)

Cleveland’s Frayle release their full-length debut LP, 1692, on 14 February via Aqualamb Records/Laybare Recordings. Formed in 2017 by guitarist Sean Bilovecky (formerly of now-defunct Man’s Ruin recording artists Disengage) and vocalist Gwyn Strang, Frayle’s musical and emotional terrain proves vast. There’s something here that appeals to those who trudge the dark paths of heavy metal’s deepest woods but there are also rewards for those of us who love artists who flirt with darkness (Portishead, Cocteau Twins) but never become swallowed by it.

“The title references those who have been singled out and persecuted for their beliefs,” says Strang. “”We strive to create a safe haven. A place to be vulnerable amongst the chaos.”

What’s more, the band, rounded out by drummer Pat Ginley, bassist Eric Mzik and guitarist Ellliot Rosen avoids easy categorization and dark metal clichés here, opting to writing potent, cinematic compositions that leave just enough room for the listener to form their own memories and images of what lurks behind the heavy, the heavy grooves of “Dead Inside”, “Burn”, “Godless” and “Monsters.”

Is living dark the best revenge? Here, Frayle seems to suggest so.