Smote - Songs From The Free House - review
Smote - Songs From The Free House - review
Band
Smote Release date
October 17, 2025 Tracklist
01. The Cottar02. The Linton Wyrm
03. Snodgerss
04. Chamber
05. Wynne
A review by
musclassia October 31, 2025
Smote is a project that I have referred to in previous reviews as performing ‘psychedelic folk drone’, and this remains the case on the newest album from the one-man band, but the flirtations with metal on previous releases have been somewhat solidified this time around. Foggin, who previously produced the project’s material himself, this time opted to record Songs From The Free House with Sam Grant of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs as producer, and the results speak for themselves.
I’ve previously used Om as a primary comparison for Smote’s sound, although unlike other drone-related acts that have recently released albums reminiscent of Om’s early material, Smote more resemble the folky spiritual drone of Advaitic Songs. This time, however, the heaviness of the drone doom metal parts of the album can sometimes push beyond that band to truly imposing levels of volume and density.
Songs From The Free House represents new territory for Smote, and not just due to the outsourcing of production. Foggin has spoken of the power of electronic music to generate sheer force that would “crumble most guitar-centred music”, and the album’s opening track “The Cottar” begins with undulating waves of droning electronic noise, eventually swelling at the shift to a new musical phase. The flute that has offered so much in the way of folky melody on past records makes a first appearance at this transition, but is accompanied by another novelty in the form of muted spoken word; to my knowledge, past Smote have been predominantly or entirely instrumental-only, but vocals appear on multiple tracks here.
A lot of Smote’s appeal comes from texturing and layering, and the flute and spoken word are accompanied by the gradual addition of other background layers and elements, including percussion that eventually becomes audible. Its arrival is initially muted and steady, but not long after “The Cottar” provides the first demonstration of Smote’s metallic heft, with drone doom distortion that grows progressively darker and heavier over several minutes before dissipating into static noise.
While the vocals in most instances are spoken and low in the mix, “The Linton Wyrm” is very much a song. Inspired by the 12th-century myth, it very much has a Medieval vibe to the folky percussion, subtle guitar melodies and group singing (which features live bassist Sally Mason as a guest vocalist). It’s a really compelling track, one that bears similarities to Wyatt E. with the psychedelic drone that emerges mid-song, and it grows increasingly heavy and overwhelming in its final minutes, particularly when the organ joins in to add an extra level of bombast. The album centrepiece “Snodgerss” is similarly impressive in how massive the sound can grow, although this much shorter song races through its build-up from playful folky flute melody to frenetic, devastating immensity.
In spite of its capacity for crushing volume, however, Songs From The Free House also has subtlety on its side, and the album’s longest track “Chamber” is a stark contrast to “Snodgerss”. The first half is very quiet, almost ambient, with but sparse flute arrangements and light underlying drones as content, and even when it turns into heavy drone doom around the halfway mark, it is more gradual and stripped-down in its arrangement and evolution than those that came before. The final song is not subtle in terms of volume, but more so in how it changes minimally across its runtime. “Wynne” features uilleann pipes from guest musician Ian Lynch, but it is no jovial folk ditty, instead more so channeling the more grounded neofolk of acts such as Sol Invictus, offering but a brief moment of respite midway through from its relentless noisy distorted psychedelia.
While any drone-based musical style is unlikely to ever find especially broad appeal, Songs From The Free House does feel like perhaps the most accessible Smote album to date, particularly for metal fans, but also potentially their most well-rounded. Foggin has such a remarkable ability to translate the darker, eerier side of local folk tradition into music that truly embodies that vibe.
Written on 31.10.2025 by
Written on 31.10.2025 by
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