Furia - Płoń!

FURIA - Płoń! (PAGAN Records CD 2009)

Recently I gave a listen to Furia’s newest EP “Guido”, which Pagan Records released this year (2016). And I did not like it. The band has changed their style drastically, for me personally it all sounds just too weird, too soft and also totally boring for me, so I am not a fan of this new release at all. My most favourite releases from Furia are those early ones, starting with “I krzyk” demo through absolutely amazing “Martwa polska jesień” album and “Grudzień za grudniem”, their second full length. These are absolutely fantastic recordings and I truly like them a lot. Somewhere between them is another EP titled “Płoń!” (released on CD format in 2009) and it’s another truly awesome and exceptional release. There are three songs here and each is truly splendid, this is a style of Furia’s music, which I like the most – and which is very characteristic and original sounding black metal that you will not be able to find in any other band. It’s a stunning mixture of melancholy, eerie, dark aura, aggression, grimness and… and something what only Furia managed to capture in their sound and which is very hard to describe. This something lays in the Polish origin of the band – or maybe I should say in their Silesian origin, because Furia always underlines (also in their lyrics) their connection to Silesia region, with its poorness, grey colours, old buildings, coal mines, language, culture, etc. The lyrics are always something, what gives a special touch to their music, so if you take all these things together, then you will know why the music of Furia is so unique and exceptional. It’s no different with “Płoń!”. Three songs, which are here are perfectly reflecting the nature of this band.

Musically I have no doubt this can actually even be the best thing, which Furia has ever released. Each of these three songs is incredibly strong, I absolutely love the riffs, arrangements, all ideas, which Furia had for them. One of the most characteristic things about their style is how they can smoothly go from fast and aggressive black metal to quite, calm – even (shoegaze) post black metal kind of sounding - stuff and how they build the tension and atmosphere. It’s never typical sounding black metal and even if occasionally it can remind you such Taake or newer Enslaved, then it’s just a small comparison, because this is Furia. They do have their own idea for the music and are good enough to bring it in great style, composing stunning, memorable and intriguing songs. Even the production is something characteristic for this band. Maybe some of you will have troubles getting into it, some may not like clean vocals for example… I don’t care, I never had such problems and for me personally “Płoń!” sounds perfect. All three songs are excellent, I can listen to this EP many times and it will never bore me. Truly fantastic release and I hope that it will finally be released on vinyl as well.

Standout track: ALL

Final rate: 95/100