Furnace in Bloomington, MN

Following the collapse of
Skinny Puppy
,
cEvin Key
and
Dwayne Goettel
turned toward a more
ambient
electronic
style. That
Goettel
didn't live to see
Download
hit their stride is quite sad, because
Furnace
is, for the most part, an excellent mix of exotic, disturbing sounds. The first three songs set such a dark, fierce pace that the remainder of the album struggles in comparison.
"Mallade"
creates a stunningly bleak atmosphere.
"Seel hole"
is an
experimental
industrial
creation that sounds like a collaboration where
Aphex Twin
Goblin
score a remake of
Blade Runner
as directed by horror maestro
Dario Argento
.
"Omniman"
should have been a club hit; its accessible demented beats and
Genesis P. Orridge
's creepy, humorous babbling are endlessly entertaining. After the somewhat murky and bland middle section of the album, the band strikes inspiration again with the
My Bloody Valentine
meets
hodgepodge of
"Beehatch"
and the spooky
Orridge
love poem that is
"Marred."
On the latter song,
sings masochistically that his lover can hurt him and emasculate him, but his love will remain. While
isn't as consistently bleak or political as any album from
, it signaled that
Key
weren't satisfied to rest on their considerable laurels. The album is dedicated to and in memory of
, and it's fitting that
is at once so listenable and challenging like the output of
. Though it contains some tracks that aren't entirely interesting, its moments of genius are potent indeed. ~ Tim DiGravina