The Furor - War Upon Worship

The Furor - War Upon Worship

War Upon Worship is The Furor’s third studio album which was released under the Australian label Prime Cuts Music.  The Furor are trying to make it big in Australia, metalcore/deathcore territory, but there is a catch, these guys black metal. Although black metal isn’t big in Australia, there is no doubt in my mind that there have been some excellent black metal that has come out of Australia. Some notable bands are Abominator, Bestial Warlust and, of course, Destroyer 666. Apart from that, the Australian scene isn’t as extensive or popular as the American or Transylvanian scenes. But don’t let this fool you, there are many, many black metal bands in Australia. They just haven’t been found yet. So the question is, could The Furor be added to this list of legends?

The Furor and be described as being blackened death metal in the sense that they play as aggressive as many death metal bands. But the thing is that they have almost none of the other characteristics which create death metal. They don’t have the same song structure, vocal techniques or distortion in their guitars. These guys lean towards the likes of Marduk as far as their music is concerned. They have similar song structure and musically techniques. So it’s a safe thing to infer that these guys have been influenced by Marduk in one way or another. Like Marduk (old Marduk that is) these guys are nonstop brutality all the way. There is absolutely no stopping the aggressiveness of this album and the fascinating thing about it all is that they carry this momentum throughout the entire album, not just one or two songs. This is quite rare, and when bands do this, and do it right, I applaud them.

Another thing that should be pointed out about this album is the atmosphere utilized in their music. For some reason, bands such as Endstille, Infernal War and even Marduk use the exact same style of atmosphere. Now I don’t know if this is just down to coincidence or if there is a little alliance forming here. The thing is that The Furor doesn’t include this into their brutal sound, which is something out of the ordinary. Now I’m not trying to imply that the atmosphere that Endstille or Infernal War or Marduk is bad, not at all, I’m just saying it’s good to having something different. I mean, there are already many bands that do this, why follow suit? Rather going for a swaying atmosphere that many brutal black metal bands tend to aim for, their music is supported by a more “complex” atmosphere. The swaying atmosphere is just what the name implies. The atmosphere sounds like is it swaying from high to low pitch, which is brought about by the guitars. Now this sounds quite simple (it sounds simple, but playing it might just be a different story), The Furor have chosen to use the same guitar distortion/tone except there is no swaying and the riffs are more complex. Even though I believe that they both sound pretty good to the ear, I just think that this style is something different.

For all who know anything about extreme metal, know that blast beats play a huge part in making their music extreme. It’s almost essential for an extreme metal band, and more so, typically with black metal and death metal. Well what do you know, a band labelled as blackened death metal! Of course it’s going to have blast beats. And I must say, they are some of the best I have ever heard. Many bands (usually black metal) typically emphasise their blast beats by changing the pitch of the skins on the drums. Now depending on what sound they are trying to aim for, depends on what style they use. But many bands tend to use a higher pitch, but the only problem is that it tends to overpower the rest of the music. Now this is a little dire because it might seem like they are hiding something behind a wall of blast beats. The thing I like about The Furor’s sound is that their drums aren’t overpowering at all. They don’t seem to have that really high pitched drumming. This creates a sort of humming in the background, which creates another element in their atmosphere, which lets the rest of their music take centre stage. I don’t think that the blast beats could have been more spot on!

Another interesting about this band is their guitar work, this might just be a coincidence but for some reason, black metal isn’t big on guitar solos but there are a few exceptions to this (eg Infernal War and many black thrash bands out there). The solos here are amazing, they can either slow and ambient to extremely fast and aggressive. The best thing that I like about them is the way they have implemented their solos into their sound, they have the fast ones during the fast parts in their songs and the slower ones during the slower parts in their songs (which don’t last for very long). Their solos aren’t the same as metalcore or some thrash metal solos. The ones here are not melodic at all, there is so music shredding going on here, complete utter mindless shredding. Also, they don’t last for 10 minutes like many other solos, they are short and sweet and they usually appear three or four times throughout a single song.

But they do have some drawbacks. I think the lack of song structure is where they fall down quite a bit. This whole album just seems like mindless shredding of the guitars and banging of the drums. Although this is still great black metal, it would be good if they had put a little more thought on how they organised their music. Their song structure is extremely messy and lacks any evidence of tightness within their music. But then again, this could be the first technical black metal band. Because their song structure, I think resembles technical death metal more than your typical black metal band.

But there is one, major fault that this album has, and something every band in the world tries to avoid but some fail. And that is, yes ladies and gentlemen REPETITIVITY. There is so much repetitiveness going through the veins of this album. I reckon that you could just make this whole album into a single track and no-one would notice. Yes, they have kept their momentum going throughout their entire album which is a good thing, but at what cost? There are no; vocal changes, changes in their atmosphere or changes in music techniques. I think that the only thing that might not seem as linear is the tempo, there are a few tempo changes throughout their music which keeps it from being as plain as cereal.

Overall, this isn’t bad album. These guys have created a few moments in this album that are worth savouring. These guys are as brutal and as ruthless and any black metal band from anywhere in the world so it’s not fair or right to discount the fact that they are from Australia. Because as I mentioned before, Australia has produced some excellent black metal, and metal in general. These guys are worth giving a shot if you are a fan of extremely brutal black metal. Or if you just like extreme metal (the most extreme of the extreme) because this will easily satisfy. I’d also like to recommend this to fans of Marduk and Infernal War because whoever likes those, are bound to like this. This might just give you a little break from the generic brutal black metal sound that is ever so needed. I recommend the track Hammers Of Masters for first time listeners because this is the track that summarises everything about this album (the good, the bad and the ugly). In conclusion, this is not a perfect album, but they do have a couple glitches that affect them quite a bit. I give The Furor’s third album War Upon Worship a 14/20.

Endstille - Infektion 1813

Endstille - Infektion 1813

Infektion 1813 is Endstille’s seventh album release, and that’s actually quite a lot considering that they have only been around since 2000. Released mid May 2011, this is one of the most anticipated albums to come out this year. With their previous releases being all over the place in terms of style, who knew what these guys will bring out next. When this came out, it was a race to see who could get their opinion out first. I have to say, I was not disappointed. This could be a strong contender for black metal album of the year 2011 and if it’s not at the top, it should be bloody well close. 

Endstille is one of a few bands that have busted out into the black metal scene in the dawn of the century. With their first release Operation Wintersturm being their crowning album and what many fans have come to love about these guys. I can tell you now, these guys are back their old style. For people who didn’t like their 2009 album Verfuhrer, this is a chance to give Endstille another go.

The music has really changed from their past albums. The music collectively on this album seems to be far superior to what they have released in the past; the recording is a lot better, musically its better and all round it seems more polished than their older releases. They have really taken a huge leap forward with this album and have introduced us listeners to a whole new frontier of black metal which is never a bad thing. With the most notable improvements over their previous albums being in the recording quality, song writing and most importantly the music.

These guys are pure black metal, they show absolutely no influence from other genres of music (except for maybe death metal, but even that is minute). They have everything you want from a true black metal band, blast beats that kill, black metal style vocals and song structure that makes sense. This album also has a few extras which many other black metal bands which share the same style seem to forget and these include; atmosphere, references to other events or eras (its not essential but it helps) and finally and most importantly… variety. Not many brutal black metal bands nowadays seem to vary their music too much for some reason, which is a shame. This is another great thing that Endstille has displayed with this release and it’s their flexibility in terms of their music. There seems to be more than just one style that is apparent in their music, although it might not be one of their primary genres, there seems to be a very strong element of depressive or suicidal black metal. There are times in this album where it does feel like this type of mood is trying to be promoted to the listener.

There is also an extremely strong sense of atmosphere and landscape in this album. I don’t know about what other people might perceive but when I hear some of the tracks on this album, I get a feeling of huge feeling of vastness of landscape. It’s almost that they have painted a picture into my mind of a desolate horizon in the distance. This is definitely brought about by the guitars, the riffs and chords are played in a way that has a swaying affect. It doesn’t only slide up and down the pitch gradient but “sways” across it. This probably makes up the biggest component of the atmospheric side of their music. Now, there is another style of landscape and atmosphere present in this album which is also really strong. But it has as much to do with the references to World War Two as much as with the music itself. The music doesn’t play a big role in creating this theme, but there are parts where there are mock radio communications, public announcements and general dialogue which promotes this feeling. I think it is more about raising awareness about the main theme of this album to remind the listener what this album is trying to represent, which we are definitely not going to forget.

Musically, like I have said before, these guys have made improvements in practically all of the aspects of their music. There is no point or section in this album where is feels like these guys have taken a step backwards in some way or another. The music is extremely tight and technical, the atmosphere and theme fits in perfectly well with the music and best of all, it’s fast, brutal and makes sense all at the same time. Also, they have kept the momentum going without feeling like they have compromised their melody or song structure in any way. Also, the music is not repetitive at all now that is something not many brutal black metal bands can or choose to do.

Another thing that makes this album so good is that each member of the band appears to have adequate skill to play the music that they do. They have managed to fit everything in perfectly with each other, leaving no holes in their music. The vocals in this album are very well done, they are utilized in the correct manner for the correct situations. Also, there is no sense of repetition or sounding monotone as well. He doesn’t only shriek, he does indeed growl and if you keep your ears peeled, there are instances where he uses clean vocals. Also he utilizes two styles of shrieks or screams throughout the whole album. Now onto the guitars, like I have mentioned before, the guitars are played in such a way that they seem to have a swaying effect in the music which is relatively common in the brutal black metal genre. The guitars are very evenly weighted and they don’t seem to overpower any of the other instruments. Also the pitch and tone of the guitars are just the style you want… black metal. Now finally, the drumming, the drumming is definitely the highlight of this album. It’s extremely fast, technical, on time and just sounds awesome. He keeps a very good pace and he does seem to be a very skilled drummer.  The blast beats of course take centre stage on this album when it comes to the instruments themselves, and I can see why they did that.

Now, there are some very good tracks on this album. The best thing about this album is there is a lot of variety here. Its not just all drumming and strumming and singing, there is a lot more to their music. The opening track is Anomie, like any good opening track, it sets the scene for the rest of the album. It is one of the more outstanding tracks on this album. It features everything great about this band. Also, as soon as you hit play, the blast beats hit you like a fully loaded train. The music is powerful and well constructed, its obvious that they have put some thought into creating the this track. The next track to mention is the track Bloody H (The Hurt-Gene), now this track is a lot more melodic than the other tracks. It features slower tempos, better melodies and clean vocals. The clean vocals aren’t that great, but they contribute to the already present ambience in this track. Another track to mention is When Kathaaria Falls, it is one of the more depressing tracks on the album but it is still a pretty intense track to listen to.

Overall, this is one hell of an album. Endstille has definitely moved forward with this album, and it surprised its fans by bringing out something like this straight after an album like Verfuhrer. This album is definitely a contender for being one of the best black metal albums to come out in 2011, I cannot see any band in the near future releasing anything with quite the same impact or oomph this year. But then again, Marduk is right up their alley. These guys should hold their heads tall as this is an extremely impressive release and can stand tall as being the new leaders of the brutal black metal scene. I recommend this album to anyone who likes extreme metal in general because everything about this album is extreme but especially fans of Marduk and Infernal War and also people who enjoyed  Operation Wintersturm as this is kind of like a revival of their older style. I would also like to recommend the opening track Anomie because it encompasses of everything you would expect from a band like this. Now for people who like a slower more melodic style of Endstille, you cannot go any further than the track Bloody H (The Hurt-Gene). There is nothing overly depressive in this album but the track When Kathaaria Falls definitely has the strongest atmosphere.  Now for those who like good musicals, the final track Endstille (Völkerschlächter) is just a ten minute musical with a few words here and there.

Overall, I think this is an incredible album and every black metal or death metal fan should at least try this once. I give Endstille’s Infektion 1813 a respectable 19/20.