Grimdark Prophecies By Fury-X album review by Mark J. FFO: Old school Crust/death metal.

 

Grimdark Prophecies By Fury-X album review by Mark J. FFO: Old school Crust/death metal.

To say this release has me pissing my pants with joy is a total understatement. Anyone who knows me is aware that whilst I am far from a musical gatekeeper, I will quickly tell you who the true gods of music are. In case you are unaware, it's Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death, Concrete Sox, Amebix, Doom, Heresy, Extreme Noise Terror, Sore Throat to name a few. This sits heavily in my fave era of UK punk/grind/extreme metal around mid to late '80s that influenced so many genres and bands and for me is unparalleled in so many aspects. Fury-X from Melbourne/Naarm is labelled as Anarcho Stenchcore and live they have always destroyed your eardrums whilst playing so efficiently. So be damn excited about a truly brilliant release.


First up look at that classic artwork on the cover-designed by the glorious Kator the mighty-and you can see the strong Bolt Thrower and Warhammer links to this amazing band. Artwork that will fucking sing on merch-so sick!. On to the fantastic album-eight tracks of nasty metal/punk that is very much in the ballpark of all the previous UK bands we have mentioned.
Fury-X is the opener that starts with a domineering marching/battle sound and a catastrophic siren to sound the alarm, the crushing stench of crustdeath is ready to slaughter you. And that is all part of the victorious formula, chunky as fuck bass/drums, devastating riffs and demonic as hell vocals. All of it mixes peak OSDM mixed with punky crust in sheer sonic warfare. And utter simplicity, although top-level skill in every manner; ensures that it is all about the laser-accurate blast beats/double kick warfare, very overwhelming vocals, thunderous bass and hectic guitarwork combined with such catchy songwriting.

Berzerker as the second track is like a whole summary of the general brilliant style of this band, especially with that main riff-just a wee bit of Bolt Thrower worship which I have no problem with, but all through a dirty stenchcore filter-memorable, heavy and awesome. Heresy is the third track and what a track, the true highlight of this is vocalist Bocchi-san's wild vocals matched with chaotically and vigorously muscular drums. For my ears, this reminded me of the best OSDM like Death, Deicide, Hate Eternal and Malevolent Creation etc. So we are really talking about a serious top-notch level band, that for some reason ain't getting the kudos they fucking deserve. Ultra Marine starts with the fuzziest scuzbucket bass ever to destroy your eardrums and wins you over with frankly hostile tension and brilliant tempo changes and psychotic build-up. I don't have the lyrics but there has to be deep Warhammer and Heavy Metal magazine influence on this.

The second searing half of this album kicks off with the intense classic Annihilation which is more on the old punk crust d-beat angle with strong Discharge, Amebix etc vibes. This begs for wild dancing and general havoc at a local venue. Human Eco-Terrorist is one of the record's finest moments for this old punk as it drips of anarcho-influenced stench core; deep and resonating vocals, demented rhythm section and ruthless riffs will thrill you to the bone.

Like every other track, there is a fantastic and catchy song structure. This is a flawless gem that demands repeated plays. Another continuous and celebratory gift from this release is the astonishing mixing and mastering on this, it is bold and dynamic but in no way sounds overproduced-just aggressive and perfectly balanced. This is how crust/d-Beat and raw punk need to sound. Distorted but face forward and chunky-so sick.

Coercion is one of the last two tracks that have slightly different influences and are oppressive masterpieces. The second last track works in a Slayer meets Sore Throat in a death match with Deicide/Autopsy-so expect some chaos and brutality; like the whole release. But that track also had some cool repetition/fadeouts which drum the song into you-overpowering and classic. Exterminatus is the most variable and most different track on the release and closes out the album perfectly. The tribal and pummelling nature of this is mind-blowing and so intense. The guitar work is solid on this release, but this banger has some of my favourite riffs-devastatingly purposeful and pulverizing. the vocals remind me of swirling demons screaming in an 80's horror movie, and the sonic carnage is very much in the style of classic Morbid Angel if they were a local stenchy d-beat band.Indeed nothing to dislike about this release from start to end. 

Uncompromising, hectic, well-written modern death metal-stenchcore classic.

CRACKING INTERVIEW WITH THE BAND DROPPING SOON!!!

Out now:

Get antisocial:


LAST BUT NOT LEAST SUPPORT OUR ZINE BY SPREADING THE WORD FOLLOWING US ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND REPOSTING OUR WORKS...
SUPPORT THE UNDERGROUND AND OUR COMMUNITY
 

Comments

Post a Comment