American Gothic

I usually steer clear of most things with "folk" in the genre, but this being branded "American Western Black Metal," curiosity got the better of me. This reminds me most of bands such as Agalloch and Opeth, with a mix of harsh and clean vocals and a very melodic and slow to mid-paced approach to their metal, with acoustic bits here and there, basically straying away from metal. There's certainly that "western" sound that can be found, though it's not overused and blends in very nicely, so Wayfarer didn't turn this into a gimmick of sort; rather it gives the album a different sound than what we're used in the genre while keeping the basics intact. I find even the harsher, more black metal parts are relatively tame, so this is not the kind of stuff you'll headbang like crazy to; I found it to be quite a relaxing listen overall. The songs are beautifully crafted and, despite going from acoustic all the way to black metal, everything just flows together seamlessly. An interesting take on a prolific subgenre.