Furia is a black metal band founded in 2003 in Katowice (a city in the south of Poland) by Michał “Nihil” Kuźniak, guitarist and vocalist. He plays along with Kamil "Sars" Staszałek (bass), Przemysław "Voldtekt" Muchowski (guitar), Grzegorz "Namtar" Kantor (drums), and, during concerts, Arthur Rumiński (electric guitar).
The band has recorded 9 albums that were primarily published by Pagan Records. In addition to concerts in stuffy clubs aimed directly at metal fans, they sometimes appear at festivals which take place in the open air (OFF Festival in Katowice or Primavera Sound in sunny Barcelona, Spain).
“Furia is not converting into a project for non-metal fans, non-metal fans are transforming into people who can relate to us- says Nihil - I, nor anyone else in the band, are in fact responsible for the shape of our work. We just go where our dumb goose named “target” goes. When it’s wasted, we go in zigzags.''
And calm, and shout
And calm and And shout are the titles of the first albums, more specifically, demos, that Furia musicians released. They can also be used as a neat description of their work. Guttural cries, often transforming into gurgling moans, the importance of which is difficult to decipher, are fused with the bustle of the high sounds of drums and guitars. Later comes the time for relaxation - we can hear an unidentified recording, reminiscent of a dark forest, where it rains and the branches are moved by some shady creatures. Everything is accompanied by delicate and melancholic guitar parts. Other times, recordings are more abstract – a mixture of rumbles, underground laments and slow guitar drones.
After the anger and episodes of uncontrolled rage comes a moment of silence – a silent observation and acceptance of reality as it is. “It embraces all vital organs: an intestinal disaster, an experience of gastric confusion, an inability to digest the world”, these are not only the thoughts of Furia but also of Cioran – a Romanian philosopher who shares the same sense of humour.
To Marzanna, Queen of Poland
An important part of the creation of Furia's lyrics is that it is difficult to understand them - typical for black metal poetics. Fortunately, thanks to the booklets accompanying their CDs, we are able to know what the artist is trying to say. Sometimes it closes with a bizarre counting rhyme:
“From a stone into a pond,
from the tip to the root,
from dusk to dawn,
from fever to chill,
from satiety to vomit” (“Wodzenie” track from the album “To Marzanna, Queen of Poland”)
“The more we are misunderstood, the better” - says Nihil – “In addition, “scribbler” sounds nicer than “artist” -. Searching in Furia’s works for moments that cease to be ironic and play with the conventions seems not to make sense. In the end, black metal is assumed to be extreme music and musicians from Katowice specialize in farce. Perhaps because of that, their activity arouses strong interest (from boundless admiration to name-calling) and allows them to present their sounds to an audience which has nothing in common with dark and unpleasant music.
In melancholy
Each Furia album brings something new to the development of avant-garde black metal's musical language. In Martwa Polska Jesień (Dead Polish Autumn) we can hear not only musicians who have developed themselves as instrumentalists but also we can see the next stage of experimentation - the songs are more rhythmically varied. Grudzień za grudniem (December after December) brings a denser sound, rich with many nuances, but at the same time remains true to their severe sound. The best proof of this is its dull clatter of drums. It is a very melodic album, and some riffs could fit well not only in hypnotic metal, but also in jazz. Recent Furia recordings, which are on the In Melancholy mini-album, go in a completely different direction. Electroacoustic noise is supported by lazy, quite heavy (but within reason) guitars and pastoral melodies.
What's next? We don't know yet. In anticipation of their new recordings, it is worth looking at the side projects of Furia members: Morowe - a band whose sound is even heavier than Furia; the technical and macabre Massemord; the industrial Cssaba, run by Nihil alone and connected to the art of Silesian primitivist painter and occultist Teofil Ociepka.
Discography
• I spokój (And calm) - Demo, self-published, 2004
• I krzyk (And shout) - Demo, self-published, 2005
• Martwa Polska Jesień (Dead Polish Autumn) - CD, Death Solution Productions, 2007
• Grudzień za Grudniem (December after December) - CD/LP, Pagan Records, 2009
• Płoń (Burn) - Tape/CD, mini-album, Eastside/Pagan Records, 2009
• Huta Laura/Katowice/Królewska Huta - 10'', Pagan Records, 2010
• Halny (Foehn) - CD, mini-album, Pagan Records, 2010
• Marzannie, Królowej Polski (To Marzanna, Queen of Poland) - CD/LP, Pagan
Records, 2012
• W melancholii (In Melancholy) - CD, mini-album, Pagan Records, 2013
Furia's website: http://www.let-the-world-burn.org/
Source: Masterful Magazine, Malavisia, Encyclopaedia Metallum, translated: Katarzyna Maksimiuk, 14.05.2014