Wednesday 14 March 2012

[ALBUM REVIEW] Furia - Marzannie, Królowej Polski



Genre - Avant-garde Black Metal

1. Wyjcie psy
2. -
3. Wodzenie
4. Skądś do nikąd
5. Kosi ta śmierć
6. Pójdź w dół
7. Są to koła


Poland has always been a hotbed for harsh and unforgiving black metal, whether it’s the bitter winters or the past economic climate, there’s certainly something there which breeds hateful and misanthropic black metal by the bucket load. Furia are one of those bands; active since 2003 they have some impressive material under their belts. Marzannie, Królowej Polski is their third full length and while not quite their best or as good as their compatriots Mgla’s latest release, it’s an involved album with a lot of merit if you have a bit of patience with it.

The closest comparisons I could draw would be a less intricate and obscure Deathspell Omega. It’s not quite as multi-layered and doesn’t have as much going on but the disjointed and left field guitar melodies together with the overall avant-garde atmosphere definitely appear influenced by DSO at times. The album actually has quite a number of upbeat passages strewn throughout, something which is obviously unusual for a lot of black metal, take the opening riff in “Wodzenie” for example or the repetitive almost psychedelic overtones threaded throughout “Sa to Kola” which remind me Nachtmystium of all people. For all its obtuse rhythms and fractured, dissonant atmosphere Furia’s core is still firmly rooted in the old school. The experimentation fuses well with the vicious flurries of blasting and Nihil’s deep, reverbed vocals.

While there isn’t really any standout aspects of the release, Marzannie, Królowej Polski is an engaging listen all the same, it does take some time to get its claws in. It’s experimental and unconventional black metal which while different, most importantly retains the foundations of traditional black metal while injecting something a bit different. If unique, ugly Eastern European black metal is your thing then you’ll certainly find something here, just don’t expect anything groundbreaking.

6/10

Sounds like - Deathspell Omega, Nachtmystium, Massemord

Originally written for Metalcrypt

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