Norway, the land of all things dark and satanic, a country that is renowned for its top flight Black Metal bands. Here we see the release of Furze' fourth album Reaper Subconscious Guide. Furze have taken an Avant Garde approach incorporating elements of Black / Doom Metal reminiscent of how early Celtic Frost approached their music, having a heavy Black Sabbath vibe, which is no surprise really as this is a sincere 40th anniversary birthday card to Sabbath. Furze makes no pretentions about the fact that if Sabbath hadn't existed Furze wouldn't have existed either. This is nothing more than an excellent homage to the awesome classic rock band, who have influenced so many.
Furze may not have the total creative force of Black Sabbath but this is an album I am digging… seriously digging. This is the way to record an album, succinct, to the point, retro 70's sound, which makes the whole gesture worthwhile. What really makes it even more impressive is that has been created by one man
From the opener "Earlier Than The Third Might Of The Cosmos" Furze really uses that Sabbath tone to great effect, chugging repeating guitar riffs, powerful drumming and strong bass, all mixed up in the creative musical box. Even when he moves into the faster paced "It Leads" he still performs with grace with his off kilter time changes and atmospheric lyrics, a path that has been used on "Immortal Lecture" and "The Bonedrum" also. For me the money shot is the album closer "Essential Wait", the sound quality really fills the air igniting it with power, being the outstanding track. This track alone incorporates all the sounds that makes this album what it is, having been put together like a jigsaw, being a very fitting closing track
There would appear to be mistakes within the drumming structure throughout, making the music sound jarred in places, which I feel has been done intentionally to add effect, as usually music from this location / genre, is renowned for its precision and technicality, where this cleverly would appear to take a more simplistic approach on the initial listen, but to be honest, this really adds to the whole effect. I believe the essence of this album is all about creating sonics, experimenting with sound.
Digital format has its place in the world of the clean and concise, but hail to analogue for that dirty Rock 'n' Roll sound. Do yourself a favour and get a copy of this; you won't be disappointed, as this is a rather unique album. Woe J. Reaper I tip my hat to you.
TRACKS
1 Earlier Than The Third Might Of The Cosmos
2 It Leads
3 Immortal Lecture
4 The Bonedrum
5 Essential Wait
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