Hailed as one of the best post-metal albums of 2009, the band’s debut, Alchera, established Heirs as one of Australia’s foremost instrumental acts. Released by German label Denovali Records, the album contained distant ripples of industrial metal deviants Godflesh and the misanthropic catharsis of early Swans, but these influences are something they have been steadily outgrowing.    The album’s accompanying tour saw the band play 69 shows across Europe and Japan, cementing their reputation for delivering an engulfing and all-consuming live experience. On stage, the band maintains a relentless, ear-splitting offensive, defying audience expectations by refusing to offer an immediate sense of resolution.   The band’s new album, Fowl, displays a shift towards a broader sonic palette. Incorporating a pugilistic rhythmic foundation with coarse, threatening guitar textures and a stronger electronic presence, Fowl is a great leap forward for Heirs, taking them beyond genres into a realm that is almost hermetic in its vision. Intensely focused yet expansive, the album is technically complex, yet uncluttered and sparse in its execution; simplicity, self-discipline and restraint are the keys to Fowl’s success.   Thematically, Fowl deals with the human processing of the ornery and the filth intrinsic to the human condition, the nourishment it provides and the way we excrete it back into the world, calling into question the notion of morality and its place in an increasingly faithless populace.