Psych Minus Space Control
It’s a quite common thing, that companies wonder why their product won’t sell on certain markets, after they had planned its release for several years. The main reason is, that the name of the product is either strange or offending in the place in question. Furze is, at least in the german speaking countries, one of those strange names, as it translates into something like “farts”, but that shouldn’t mean that you avoid listening to it.
First of all I have to admit that I haven’t heard any of the previous records – on the one hand because of the really strange band name and on the other hand because word-of-mouth that said this project features rather raw and strange black metal. Their latest record Psych Minus Space Control was praised quite a bit, which caused me to risk an ear. This was a rather good decision, as the (round about) fourty-five minutes of playing time have nothing with raw black metal in common.
The first tones of this new record make clear, that you will find a dark doom/occult/psychedelic rock/metal record, that features huge oldschool elements which could be seen as a tribute to the doyens of Black Sabbath. Nevertheless, the first riff of the record reminds me of Beherit’s – The Gate of Inanna.. The songs of the record are really slow and dragging without too much variation and therefore features quite traditional structures of doom. Woe J. Reaper repeats the same riffs over and over again with minimal changes, to keep things as interessting as possible. Of course there are some other elements featured as well – for instance the opening track Occult Soul, With Mind features some space-sounding keyboards (which sometimes resemble siren sounds ..).
The other songs are quite similiar concerning structure and sound, in the best case they get a bit more rocking, which makes it easier to follow them over the total playing time. To crown it all, the Reaper decided to nearly abandon all vocals, which results in really monotonous songs. On the one hand this is just brilliant, as the monotonous mood creates a really nice space atmosphere, on the other hand the songs tend to become really boring, but I guess this is a matter of taste if you like it or not. The songs with vocals are the only ones with influences of black metal.
Conclusion:
Psych Minus Space Control is one of the most difficult records I reviewed in this years process. On the one hand the record has a really catchy and well done atmosphere and nice grooves, on the other hand it loops the same structures over and over again which easily becomes boring. This record isn’t really bad, but I guess you really have to like such monotonous sounds to love this record.
Rating: 70/100
Date of release: May, 15th 2012
Tracklist:
| 1. | Occult Soul, With Mind | 09:10 | |
| 2. | Psych Mooz Space Control | 14:08 | |
| 3. | Reaper Subconscious Guide | 06:47 | |
| 4. | Triad of Lucifer | 08:58 | |
| 5. | When Always Ready | 03:59 | |
| Total Playing Time: | 43:02 | ||
