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I missed this one. This band’s definite high point was Steadfast in 2008, and the two full-lengths they released since then were not as good, so I let this one slip by me when it came out as a digital-only release back in 2017. That’s regrettable, as this is the closest the band has come to their best work in the past 14 years.

This is an EP, but it’s still a solid half-hour, so you get a good value for it. This is Forefather back in the groove, punching out the riffy, energetic, folk-fueled metal that maybe only Suidakra has ever done as well. Once again the riffs are clean-limbed and hooky workouts for your air-guitar hand, and the speed is back, with propulsive rhythms and a lot of dynamic and changes to keep things interesting. Here is a disc that never wears out its welcome and songs that have that same quality, and you are never looking at the timer to see how much longer anything is going to take, because you don’t want it to end. We haven’t heard from Forefather for 5 years now, but if they can still do what they do this well, I hope we hear from them soon.