Thursday 8 December 2011

Furia - Martwa Polska Jesień

Furia - Martwa Polska Jesień (Death Solution - CD 2007)
This band just gets better and better with every new release... Two demos were enough to me to fully appreciate Furia's music, but this debut full length is something beyond any my imaginations and being Polish myself, I can only be proud that this country was able to shit out such excellent bands as Furia. I guess the main thing is that Furia plays the kind of black metal that I like most - which is music based on the atmosphere in the first place. If I mention bands like Secrets of the Moon, Dornenreich, Helrunar, Agalloch, Taake, Mgla and many others alike, then you probably get my point. Furia may have a little bit in common with few of these hordes, but as overall "Martwa Polska Jesien" presents the band going individual and its own (left hand) path. Will you follow it? You must, trust me.
The atmosphere... Well, I already said that word here. But I must underline it one more time... FUCKIN ATMOSPHERE! It's almost ghastly... Cold, sinister, mournful, angry, melancholic... You may use such words while describing Furia's music and they'll all fit. "Martwa Polska Jesien" has many layers, on which the band builds their music, consequently developing the style from the demo recordings, "I Krzyk" especially. And so you'll find the so familiar kind of folky melodic riffs, which may remind you about the early Taake or even Kampfar, and as such they were present in Furia's music already in the earlier tracks. Many of them are played in neckbreaking speed, what surprisingly reminds me also another Polish black metal troupe, Abusiveness. And fast playing fills up the great part of the album, "Nade Mną Mgła" and "Dzień Czarny, Noc Czarna", which begin the album are fantastic examples for that. But the arrangements are getting more and more brave and make the discovering of "Martwa Polska Jesien" an exceptional experience. Furia isn't scare of using very peaceful, melancholic part next to those furious, fast playing. They even use some catchy chorus parts here and there, "Krew w Kolorze Bursztynu" coming to my mind straight away.
And if meanwhile you'll find the fragment, which can remind you even post metal bands... well, you didn't go deaf. Furia does put some incredible instrumental passages, which transformed into black metal language creates amazing feeling and ATMOSPHERE. I love those fragments, when the tension builds up and a quiet, sorrowful part is suddenly interrupted by cold black metal fast riffing. "Idzie Zima" and "Na Ciele Swym Historię Mą Piszę" must be mention here as some of the finest black metal songs ever to come out from the human mind. In my opinion, all such aspects like the production, arrangements, individual performance of each musician... everything here is top notch and even the ghastly front cover with grey artwork fits perfectly.
Nihil's vocals are some of the best I've ever heard on black metal album. And it's not just due the fact that all the lyrics are in Polish, what obviously adds special feeling and character to his voice, as Polish in so different than the usual English... But he simply has amazing voice, his shrieks and screams together with some sort of clean singing are just one of the kind and I've never heard anything like it before. Together with some stunning, very poetic lyrics he's done brilliant work; he's the man behind Furia's success. By the way, the title "Martwa Polska Jesien" in English means "Dead Polish Autumn" as opposite to our saying "Golden Polish Autumn", a sentence which is supposed to describe the colorful landscape of early Autumn in this country... And as the album is closed by song titled "Idzie Zima" ("Winter's Coming"), while the second album is titled "Grudzień za Grudniem" ("December by December") and is all about the winter... All puzzles are fitting. Get ready, as it won't be sunny and pleasant...
Final rate: 100 / 100

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