Furnace - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Here's where the future begins for Skinny Puppy's cofounder Kevin Cey, and where it ended for Dwayne Goettel, who died last summer shortly after completing this record. With Genesis's P. Orridge subbing for the exiled Nivek Ogre, it's as experimental, industrial, sci-fi, and strangely accessible as you'd expect--just the ticket for legions of Puppy --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Industrial/ambient brilliance! May 6, 2003
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

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.

5 out of 5 stars

get it? October 24, 2002
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

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.

5 out of 5 stars

hmmm what to say here? June 15, 2000
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

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

3 out of 5 stars

inventive but not impressive January 1, 2000
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I bought this cd expecting an inventive mix of ambient, electronica, and industrial. I got a very nice blueprint of this mix but nothing that really follows through. The music is beautifully textured and contains layer upon layer of fascinating noise, but all the tracks leave me feeling less then entranced. There is plenty of creative energy behind the project and although I was slightly dissapointed I am still anticipating my next purchase of a download album.

5 out of 5 stars

Not in the least accessible, but worth the work. May 25, 2000
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.

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