It’s that festive time of year again, and as Christmas draws closer, it’s always good to have something to put on your list to Santa; step in Furia, with their new black metal release Księżyc Milczy Luty. The Polish quartet’s sound is a combination of folk-ish music and black metal to create an insanely heavy, atmospheric and evil sound and has been dubbed “necrofolk”. Księżyc Milczy Luty is Furia’s fifth full length album and is a callback to Martwa Polska Jesien, the group’s first. The band formed in 2003, they have improved their unique sound with every release.
The kind of sound Furia has created on Księżyc Milczy Luty is something utterly unlike anything else, providing a slow and sludgy, almost depressive, sounding album. The penultimate track “Zabieraj lapska” is the prime example of this, as the song never picks up from a walking pace, but feels heavier and darker than most heavy metal bands from the past 20 years. Not since the early days of Mayhem (back before Varg Vikernes was flushing oranges down French toilets) has there been a black metal band so trve. This album demands to be listened to, and with each song on the album lasting over 5 minutes, you’re able to fully experience the scope of Furia’s skill.
The album begins with a long instrumental intro on “Za ćmą, w dym”, with the doom-ish atmosphere recognisable straight off the bat; drummer Namtar keeps the song at a slow pace, while guitarist A plays some solo, fragmented notes to really create a feeling of unease. This feeling is only amplified by singer Nihil who does not shout, nor does he scream, but simply speaks with a low, grim-sounding voice, to let you know, “you’re listening to some really heavy shit right now”.
The best track might be “Cailo”, which lasts over 7 minutes and sounds truly epic, beginning with a long slow intro, consisting of just Namtar and bassist Sars, but ends in a polar opposite style, with the band in full swing and a depressive sounding guitar riff taking centre stage in the typically black metal style of playing few notes but at an incredibly fast pace.
If you’re not a fan of black metal, then you’re wrong and you should be! So this goes for everyone; go and listen to this album now!
Księżyc Milczy Luty was released in late November on digital download and CD, but if you want to really experience Furia’s newest release, you’ll wait until the 29th when the vinyl is released. It comes with a four page booklet and also a digital download pass, so you’ll be getting the best of both worlds.
Księżyc Milczy Luty is available now on CD and digital, and you can pre-order the vinyl via their label’s bandcamp page.
Furia: official