F

— First review of this album —

"My Death for You on a Night of Cursed Full Moon / Pronimo" is a split release between Bewitched from Chile and F from Finland. The split was released through Warmaster Records in June 1993. Bewitched recorded and mixed their five tracks in 4 hours. They consists of an intro, and outro, and three regular tracks. The three regular tracks are re-recordings of songs which had appeared in demo versions on their 1992 "Nemesis" and "Doomed" demos. F is only represented here with the "Pronimo" track, but it´s a 21 minutes long track, so there´s enough quantity here to warrant a purchase of the split. "Pronimo" was recorded during several studio sessions from February 1993 to March 1993. "Pronimo" is exclusive to this split and does not appear on any other F release (or any release from their pre-F band Funcunt).

It´s an interesting idea to pair two artists like Bewitched and F, as they have very little in common. Usually when you purchase a split you´ll expect that the artists featured on the split have some sort of musical connection, but that´s certainly not the case here. Bewitched deliver a lo-fi blackened doom metal attack, which sounds like a very primitive and not very professional version of early Katatonia. The vocals are doubled with both growling, high pitched screams, and clean vocals. The material features a dark and occult sound, which is pretty much what it has going for it, because the performances are pretty amaturish and the songwriting simple and not very interesting.

The F part of the split is a completely different beast, as the listener is now exposed to over 20 minutes of avantgarde and experimental music. F (and before they changed their name Funcunt) are one of the most odd and experimental acts from the late 80s/early 90s Finnish extreme metal scene, and "Pronimo" is just as crazy and weird as the material which came before it. F produce an incredibly eclectic, ever shifting, and busy avantgarde sound, which features elements from mathcore, fusion, psychedelic music, alien atmospheres, and just a complete disregard of regular song structures. If you enjoyed the 1993 "I-III" debut album from F, you´ll surely appreciate the "Pronimo" track too, as it´s in a similar style.

Upon conclusion "My Death for You on a Night of Cursed Full Moon / Pronimo" is an almost impossible split to evalute as the two artists move in such different directions and the skills and professionalism of the two artists almost couldn´t be further apart. I´ll go with a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating as a compromise. The Bewitched part of the split is probably around a 2.5 star (50%) rating and the F part is a 4 star (80%) rating, so a compromise is only fair.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"I-III" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish avantgarde/experimental music artist F. The album was released through Ei Enää in 1993. F formed in 1989 under the Funcunt monicker and released two demos using that name before changing their name to F in 1993. They only released this debut album and a split with Bewitched from Chile later the same year before disbanding in 1994.

F is positively the weirdest and most experimental band to grow out of the late 80s/early 90s Finnish extreme metal scene and already on the last Funcunt demo "Coldeäccol" from 1991, they showed incredible playing skills, but more importantly a will to experiment and develop their sound in all sorts of directions. Let´s establish right away, that the tendency is continued here and even further explored making "I-III" an even more avantgarde and experimental release than "Coldeäccol". It´s almost otherworldly in nature and it´s probably an aquired taste, but to my ears this is quite brilliant.

Odd horror type keyboard themes, hypnotic psychedelic parts, sudden bursts of spastic technical mathcore playing, fusion rhythms, dissonance, and an overall alien atmosphere are some of the elements which make up this album. "I-III" features three tracks which ranges from being 12 to 18 minutes long, and they are all complex in structure and filled to the brim with crazy experimental music ideas. I hear influences from artists like Henry Cow, Faust, and Magma, but F still have some sort of connection to their extreme metal past, although this isn´t as such extreme metal...maybe it would be more correct to just call it extreme music.

The music features lengthy instrumental parts, but there are vocal parts here too, and just like the instrumental part of the music the vocal parts are a bit hard to describe. Sometimes they are chanted choirs, sometimes soft singing/odd talking, and sometimes shouting/screaming.

What makes "I-III" such an intriguing release which features a lot of replay value is that although this is crazy complex music which is wildly busy and odd, it´s still music which is coherrent and features reoccuring themes and songwriting ideas. So for all the avantgarde ideas and experimental excursions into this and that genre and playing style, F are still grounded enough to produce music featuring recognisable themes. These songs are actual compositions and not just a lot of weird musical ideas thrown together, although they certainly challenge the listener´s perception of what a composition can be. "I-III" features a raw, yet well sounding and detailed production job too and the musical performances are through the roof, so upon conclusion this is a high quality release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"Coldeäccol" is the second demo recording by Finnish avantgarde/experimental music artist Funcunt. The demo was independently released in 1991. It´s the successor to the 1990 "Minutewelli" demo. Funcunt formed in 1989 and released two demos before changing their name to F in 1993. They disbanded in 1994 but did manage to release the 1993 "I-III" debut full-length studio album before the split-up.

Listening to "Coldeäccol" is soon becomes clear that Funcunt is one of the most weird, avantgarde, and experimental extreme metal acts out of the early 90s Finnish scene. In fact I don´t recall having heard anything like this before (their closest relative is maybe Pakeni, but even they sound completely normal compared to the material on "Coldeäccol"). Contemporary artists (although Swedish) like Pan.Thy.Monium and Carbonized who also toyed with avantgarde and experimental songwriting ideas sound accessible compared to the eclectic fusion type extreme metal assault on the ears that you´re exposed to when listening to "Coldeäccol".

The music features elements of death metal, but it would be wrong to call this death metal, because the many weird musical ideas and shifts make this almost impossible to label correctly. The music features what I´d call mathcore type riffs and rhythms before such a term was even coined, but it´s also quite dynamic music with mellow parts and loud fusion parts (featuring instruments like violin and saxophone). Keyboards and studio effects (tape manipulation as far as I can hear) are also used in addition to the regular instrumentation of bass (which are often slapped), guitar, and drums. The vocals are aggressive shouting.

"Coldeäccol" features only two tracks, but both tracks are 10 minutes plus in length and both tracks are very complex in structure and are generally unconventional in songwriting approach. A bit surprisingly maybe, since "Coldeäccol" is a demo release, it features a sound production which is close to sounding like a professional studio sound production, and no one would have questioned if this had been released as an EP or a very short full-length release instead of a demo.

Upon conclusion this is one of the more exciting, adventurous, and unique releases I´ve heard in a while, and fans of avantgarde and experimental extreme metal are advised to give this one a listen. While Funcunt are often lumped in with the contemporary artists from the early Finnish death metal scene, they actually have more in common with artists like Henry Cow and Faust. What a delightfully weird release this one is...a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).