Furia - Kheros
- Released: 2006
- Label: Season of Mist
- Rating:
As much as it is known for its toast, fries, maids and cowardice, France is not really known too well for its metal. It’s just not one of the countries that pops into mind when you start associating countries to heavy music. Fortunately, bands like Furia pop up and let the metal community know that not everyone in the country has a white flag where their balls used to be.
The main thing I enjoy about this album is that in order to truly appreciate it you really need to listen to the album in its entirety, from beginning to end. It sounds stupid, but the record is like a voyage throughout many, many different styles and influences. The first couple of songs reminded me of a mix between the likes of In Flames and Lamb of God. However, just when I thought “Oh, great, another melodic death metal band”, the guys threw in all kinds of wrenches into the mix. The great thing about this collection of songs is that you never know what to expect from the next track. They’ll go from a Soilwork-esque melodeath track straight into a techno breakdown without missing a beat. Surprisingly, the flow of the album is smooth and never boring. There are tinges of straight-up death metal, black metal, techno, and melodeath all over the album. There’s also a track included that sounds like the soundtrack to a crappy horror movie. You’d think that’d be something that would be out of place, but it fits the overall mood and atmosphere of the album. Just take a look at the cover art and you can get a pretty good idea of the direction this album goes in.
Just as the styles of this album change throughout its course, so do the vocals. Nothing is more tedious than a monotonous vocalist. Here, the guys go from black metal screams to melodeath screams to LG Petrov-ish shouts to death metal growls to gaymo clean vocals all in the course of a single track. It really helps to keep the experience fresh and to hold your attention.
Overall this is a pretty damn good record for a band I’ve never heard of. My main problem with music of this genre is that it’s always badass until the singer starts doing his melodic vocals and the music gets upbeat. Furia tend to keep the music and vocals on the darker side throughout the entire album. When they do venture into the melodic part of melodic death metal, it’s very brief. This is my favorite album of this style since the last Scar Symmetry album. Check it out immediately if you’re a fan of the genre.
Link: furia-metal.com
Farlus | 06/21/2006