Customer Reviews

Furnace

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel's first outing as Download (and Dwayne's last before his death) showed a progression into industrial electronic territory far more experimental than even Skinny Puppy's stranger moments. With the help of Philth and Mark Spybey, "Furnace" plays out like a soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic wasteland (much like the holographic cover). The music ranges from hard industrial beats to sonic ambience the likes of which is rarely heard outside of the "Blade Runner" soundtrack. Utilizing everything from hardcore guitar samples and distorted vocals to middle eastern melodies and treatments, there is no stone unturned on this album. There is a steady flow from the freaky and harsh first half of the CD to the more soothing passages of the second half. "Sigesang" is definitely the most brutal song, starting somewhat moderately befor blasting into a combination of pounding synths, distorted noise, and buried vocals. "Seel Hole" sets the tone for the whole CD, starting things off with a combination of frenetic beats and textured ambience. Genesis P. Orridge's vocals on "Omniman," "Lebanull," and "Marred" add a frightening quality, sounding both malevolent and mechanical at the same time. I could say more, but it would be redundant. The music relies less on typical song-structures, and more on a sense of the feeling of the music. Texture takes precedence over melody, giving it the sense of a soundtrack to an unmade movie. It's a CD full of dissonance and beauty, perfect for anybody who needs to unwind. Whether you like rage or serenity, this CD has it all, and it all works. I'm less familiar with Download's later work, but if it's anywhere as good as this, consider me a fan. Give it a listen.

Download is cEVIN KEY and the late Dwayne Goettel (formerly of skinny puppy), Mark Spybey (of Dead Voices on Air, ex Zoveit France) and Philth. "Furnace", the group's first LP, contains 13 tracks and totals 75 min in length. Each track has been given a # between 1-13.(1 = the best, 13 = the worst)

(8)"Mallade" - Spybey's influence becomes apparent here. Werid ambience accompanied by distorted scraps and some guitar and vocal like sounds.

(2)"Seel Hole" - Digital hardcore. The track is comprised of more individual sounds then I can count. It's quite meismerizing.

(10)"Omniman" - Danceable yet intellegent. Features vocals from Genesis P. Orridge (ov Psychic TV, ex Throbbing Gristle)

(6)"Cannaya" - 6 different sections are easily distinguishable, a credit to Download's versatility. Flutes, trupets and vocals all sound Middle-Eastern in origin.

(3)"Sigesang" - Check the BPMs. Percussion defines this track. Distorted guitar is also present along with lots of cool synth and samples.

(7)"Stone Grey Soil" - Chattery synthesised percussion in a sea of ambient noise. Contains the same low-pitched incomprehensable vocals scattered thru out the album.(Is this a language?)

(5)"Mother Sonne" - Awesome vocal distortion. Deeply complex rhythm which is at the same time catchy.

(1)"Attalal" - Who says electronic music can't be moving? Keyboards courtesy of Dwayne I assume. Perhaps my favorite song from this group.

(13)"Lebanull" - At this point it is evident that the Middle-Eastern influence was intended to be thematic. (or perhaps I'm misplacing the sound) Anyway my least favorite track is still impressive. Features Gen.

(9)"Beehatch" - Infectious beats. and yet i fall asleep listening to this (intentionally).

(12)"Noh Mans Land" - Good but the remixes on "Microscopic"(Also higly recommended) are better.

(4)"Marred" - 2 vocal tracks, disembodied dialouge snipits, at least 5 or 6 percussive tracks (including some funky bass and keyboards that sound almost disconnected) as well as all sorts of menacing ambience. This is epic song making.

(11)"Hevel" - Short and sweet. Contains elements of track 1.

It is curcial that you give this album time to grow on you. It took me a year and 1/2 before I could appreciate it for what it is: one of the most complex and original experimental electronic albums ever made. It's 5 years later and cEVIN and Co. have yet emulate the sound they acheived on "Furnace". I am in hopes that the next album will start out where this one left off.

Well,Skinny Puppy had their impact on modern electronic music,Download takes you with the Furnace album even further.

Big threatening soundscapes where effects are played like instruments.

Listen alone at high volume,when the music stops you're bathing in sweat looking around,wondering what you just listened to.

A must buy for any advocate of experimental electronic music.

this vancouver project combines the visionary sound artistry of skinny puppy members, phil western (tranquility bass) and mark spybey, courtesy dead voices on air.
furnace has a language all it's own. i can see why some reviewers took a while to appreciate it.
there is definitely an alien complexity at work here, amidst the
rhythmic cacophony of cut~up vocal distortions and
post~industrial shore line scraping.
sigesang disintegrates into sheer glitch noise with crunchy guitar straight off process and some video game sounding
bassline matched perfectly with sliced and diced vocals that, as an earlier reviewer noted, will rip your wallpaper off.
still, the album does have it's ambient moments.
stone grey soil, attalal, and beehatch are more down~tempo,
chill~out themes preluding their more "accessible" and most
recent work, effector.
furnace winds it's way like an intoxicated fiery serpent thru danceable excursions and strange mezmerizing distorted poetry (what exactly does jolk mean anyway?)
vocal contributions by genesis p~orridge on omni~man, lebanull, and marred are hilarious, subversive, and volatile as ever.
get it, you'll come back different.

Its pretty safe to say you have never heard a cd like this cd. I bought this cd and hated it when i got it. a year later it was amoung my common rotation. DONT EXPECT this cd to sound anything like the music you hear on the radio or MTV. Some people might call this cd noise or random sounds but after closer examination you find layers apon layers of really interesting patterns that get you actually feeling something unlike catchy pop songs. Must buy for anyone really looking for a change in music

To this day Download in general has been a very influential group producing master pieces over the years. Furnace especially has a symbolic / nostalgic place for me. I still get inspired by listening to Furnace and it has to be one of the Best Download Albums. The Microscopic EP is also a masterpiece in its own right. both discs are a combination of experimental industrial noise and ambiance. Download among other experimental / electronic artists were very influential for me as fan, a musician, and now a fledging producer. And Download is it's own beast in contrast to Skinny Puppy, which I grew up listening to.

what else can i say that hasn't been said. Download is one of my favorite bands of all time - this is where it all began. The array of musicians on this release add to its rich and vast flavor. Mark Spybey, D.R. Goettel, Genesis P. Orridge - and of course cEvin Key's brilliance - a great album for anyone a fan of industrial, experimental and electronic music. you won't be disappointed.

This is so unlike anything I ever heard that it's difficult to say anything really. Ok, here goes. 1. This cd should not be approached as normal music, in fact you shouldn't look at it as music at all, because it doesn't have any shape or form that 99% of the music has 2. It should be viewed as an experimental so you won't be surprised by anything. 3. There is no easy way to describe it so rather than describing the music i ll say that it truly acts as an haluciogenic drug (not that I know how that feels:) ), sometimes it's BMP's will tear the wall papers of your room, other times ambiental sounds make you feel like you are coming down from a high and enjoying every minute of it. The sounds and the samples crush upon you in waves, making you slowly get into it. Density of the sound makes it impossible to listen to it casualy, you have to concentrate, try to embrace it, if you manage to do that it will take you places no other music can or will. After listening to Furnace all other music will sound like pop so that's the down side of it. This is not and was never intended to be music for everyone's liking so it definitly shouldn't be your first venture into industrial music.

And here I am, writing a review for a disc I bought two years ago and immedietely hated every second of. Needless to say, the thing's grown on me considerably; the things Key and the crew do to techno/ambient/industrial conventions are beyond the divine. And beyond the pale. There are areas of stark beauty as well as extreme ugliness, so it's no walk in the park, as the title of my reviews suggests. I enjoy this as a slightly more formless companion to Eyes of Stanely Pain, which I, on the whole, take more listening pleasure in, but cannot hold at all above Furnace. The noisy, euphoric influence of Mark Spybey is more prevalent on this album than its follower, so I would advise checking out Dead Voices on Air, his solo project, if you happen to take a liking(even if that liking takes hold months after you purchase it, and indeed it may; you have been warned) to this outing. Furnace requires a developed taste in not only ambient and techno, but in noise as well(Merzbow, later Neurosis, etc.) and is not something to be undertaken by any Skinny Puppy fan looking for more of the same. It reaps vast rewards, however; it is entirely intrigueing, alien and powerful music, and I've never heard any other artist come close to matching its sound. With that in mind, bon appetite and good luck.

The review above fails to mention the involvement of Mark Spybey in the project, the man behind Dead Voices on Air. At any rate, this early Download release varies between accessible industrial-techno and more experimental, less structured tracks. There are some fine moments but the later discs are more cohesive and fully realized.