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By RYAN MAVITY
Let me just get this out of the way real quick: UTD by Furze is a bad album. Sure, I could use a lot of big critic’s words to describe it, but I won’t. In this case, I will cut right to the chase. This album is badly written, produced and performed. Not to sound condescending (damn, a big critical word!), but that’s a musical trifecta you do not want to hit. When reviewing albums, I often hold a test: could the Live-Metal.net staff and I, none of whom are trained musicians, make an album better than what I’m hearing. In the case of UTD, the answer is a resounding yes.
And yet …
This album contains a certain audacity. I almost admire it for that. Furze does not give a shit whether I like it, whether this big fat female pig over here likes it, whether the record label likes it or even if its audience likes it. UTD does what it does with no shame and takes no prisoners. The long song and album titles, the ridiculous costumes and the deliberately unproduced sound are all like musical middle fingers. It seems to be saying, “So what, it’s bad. If you don’t like it, then fuck you!” I admire the spirit; it is true punk rock.
But I cannot recommend it, not even in a guilty pleasure sort of way. The album is mostly unlistenable, a collection of muffled guitars, unintelligible vocals and off-key drumming. Much of it sounds like it was recorded in somebody’s basement. Now, I know that a staple of black metal is its underproduced sound, but UTD doesn’t even get that right. We can’t even make out the satanic lyrics. What good is a message of anti-Judeo Christianity if we can’t hear it?
UTD offers not a hint of a tune, not a shred of melody or craftsmanship, guitar solos, not even interesting vocals. It mostly offers noise—noise without shape or texture. UTD simply sounds like a couple of guys banging on instruments for 45 minutes. I’ll at least give it some points for making me care about how bad it was. Still, that is small consolation. My only question is, who in the world at a respected label like Candlelight thought this shit was fit for a worldwide release?
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