Can you even fathom FAETHOM, CHARIOTS OVERDRIVE and BY WAY OF FIRE at Boggs?
By Scott “Still Can’t Believe It” Belzer
Blackened grouper. Blackened chicken. Blackened grilled chicken sandwich. Blackened fish tacos. Blackened shrimp on the barbie, mate. Blackened death metal. Black’n’roll. Blackened heavy metal.
Remember Black-ish? I don’t think that has anything to do with music. I may be wrong though—I never watched it.
FAETHOM, however, has everything to do with metal of the blackened variety. Long hair, keyboards, guitar riffs, an overall disparate atmosphere, outfits—the whole shebang. The only thing missing is the corpse paint, and I think they’ve done that a few times.
Originating in 2008 from the sunny and swampy armpit of America that is Florida by way of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Faethom drags the festering bogs of blackened heavy metal with precision and skill. It’s difficult to fathom (heyooo) why these crazy kids haven’t rocked the collective-metal-consciousness sooner: Every box—melody, brutality, creativity, image—is checked in blood. But given they’re touring and turning heads in the process.
It is easy to see why there’s been five and seven years between their past two full-length albums, respectively: there’s a die-hard intention in Faethom’s songwriting. No note is out of place or wasted. Every lick, riff, screech and solo is carefully crafted and placed. That takes time, y’all. Energy. Effort. Precision. It ain’t fast food.
Faethom’s latest effort, 2023’s Chaosmorphogoria, showcases the band’s penchant for balancing atmosphere, melody, and brutality. There isn’t a single instance where you think, “Wow, those keyboards sure are overpowering,” or “Man, I wish they’d knock it off with those guitar licks for a few seconds,” or “Do I need to pay the gas bill?” You’re locked in—all because each ingredient (David Diacrono’s guitar, Evie Austin’s bass, Luis Orsorio’s *other* guitar, Mariela Muerte’s vocals/keys, and Lucas Moore’s drums) is equally measured and properly integrated.
Combining heavy metal and black metal has been done before, sure. We all love King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, and those weird folky Bathory albums (that’s heavy metal, right?). But none of those bands had Mariela Muerte’s boisterous bellows and screeching howls. Muerte can scream with the best of black metal before soaring with the King himself (albeit in a much lower key). Just listen to “Ancient Powers That Be” and “Goregantuan”. And while you’re there, take notes on how all things audio sync so well together.
The most important sum of these parts is the atmosphere. While there’s plenty of brutality at hand, Faethom’s focus seems to be more on celebration rather than foreboding dread and anger. The music conjures fog-filled cemeteries lit by neon bar signs. It’s a Rob Zombie film. It’s the first time you watched your favorite slasher. Your first goth crush. It lets you revel in the dark side of your being and harness it for the glory of rock and roll. Ain’t metal the best?
FAETHOM plays Boggs Social & Supply on Thursday, September 4, 2025. They’ll be reveling in the darkness with fellow heavy metallers CHARIOTS OVERDRIVE and BY WAY OF FIRE.
On first listen, you’d swear Atlanta’s Chariots Overdrive is straight out of the 1980s. There’s a punk-laden d-beat swagger to their brand of melodic heavy metal. It’s pretty enough to be comparable to Judas Priest, but gritty and grimy enough to be comparable to lesser-known stalwarts that helped pave the way. Have you heard it in a movie somewhere? Perhaps on a compilation celebrating undiscovered heavy metal bands from 1985? These kids have done their homework when it comes to heavy metal, taking only the best from all of your favorite giants in the genre. The first time I saw them live, I had to grab the closest metalhead and say, “Who is this?? Why is this so GOOD?”
The answer to this is simple: it’s Chariots fucking Overdrive, the best heavy metal band in Atlanta that you don’t know about. Educate yourself and listen to both of their stellar EPs now. I’ll wait.
Similar words could be said about Atlanta’s By Way of Fire, who sling thunderous riffs and soaring heavy metal riffs with equivocal bravado. More like By Way of Some Great Influences. If you haven’t figured it out yet, heavy metal boils down to a stomping/big ball confidence and catchy, clever melodies, with neither one taking attention from the other. By Way of Fire has figured it out. And that’s why they’re playing with these other two great bands.
-Scott Belzer