Album Review: The Felix Culpa - Bury Your Axe EP

A year on from releasing their superb 'Sever Your Roots' record, The Felix Culpa have reissued it with a three track EP to match. 'Bury Your Axe' picks up on the bands passionate, progressive indie rock sound they established previously.

The five-minute instrumental opener, 'Mallets' is an intriguing, brilliantly arranged piece which is slow burning and leaves you on tender hooks before exploding with spiky guitar stabs. The calm 'Towers' follows it up with a light yet tense atmospheric approach that draws you in, whilst Mark Hladish’s passionate vocals compliment the bands ambient tone. Whilst the bands shift between a melodic stance towards a more aggressive is also pulled off extremely well.

'Spaces' sways back and forth between the soft-loud approach and highlights the bands tight craftmanship and fantastic song structure, as the build up to the conclusion is well deserved and everything you want from The Felix Culpa. It leaves stunned and breathless yet wanting more.

Although 'Bury Your Axe' is a "bonus" EP, it shouldn't ruin its stature, as on its own it gives you an accurate impression of what this band are about and what they are capable of. As always the bands dynamic, ambient style blows you away and makes you thinking why this band aren't bigger. Nonetheless now on a new label (No Sleep Records) and with an impressive collection of songs here and on 'Sever Your Roots', the bands reputation will surely get bigger.

4.5/5

'Bury Your Axe' EP by The Felix Culpa is released with the reissue of 'Sever Your Roots' on February 22nd through No Sleep Records.

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The Felix Culpa on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

Sean Reid