[Archive] Review of Februus’ 2024 LP, ‘Surveillance Orgy’.
Note: Another of many prior articles previously posted to our sadly now-defunct website (RIP). In this article, Hamza tackles something a bit more on the extreme end of his musical listening spectrum, to great effect. Read on for the full review, plus artist and track links.
Surveillance Orgy is currently out via Transcending Obscurity Records on all digital platforms, with physical media available.
Peace, Love and Grindcore xoxo - Brady.
I spent too long trying to write a long segue into my thoughts on this album, but I’m running out of time, so, uhhh – there is no segue. Here's the review.
Februus as a project is pretty damn good. Helmed by apparent metal savant Andreas Karlsson – who plays, programs and mixes everything – their debut album Surveillance Orgy is fast-moving, chuggy progressive death metal with kind of a noisy, almost psychadelic streak. I’m reminded a bit of Gorguts, a bit of Coroner, maybe a tiny bit of Cannibal Corpse during some of the more pummelling moments. The progressive metal tag comes mostly from the song structures, which move with an Opeth-y, Between the Buried and Me-y kind of chaotic cohesiveness; i.e. the songs don’t like to repeat themselves often, but there is a kind of logic to how they move, whether the song be three of fifteen minutes long. There’s artful use of noise and feedback throughout the album, in the choatic, hectic mix, the shrill, hellish, almost atonal Kerry-King-meets-Billy-Corgan style guitar solos, the pick scrapes and taps you can sometimes here in the lead lines, and the absolutely insane riffs which are designed to maximise chaos, and a more proficient way of fucking with time than is traditional. Vocals are mostly an indecipherable growl with the appropriate flourishes, and it serves its purpose and occasionally do some interesting things, such as when the double-tracked vocals veer away from each other in "Morning Star over Deathlehem," or the *slightly* melodic yelling in the middle of "The Price of Enterprise."
Also, and I’m not usually interested in death metal lyrics, but the artwork and song titles on Februus’ Surveillance Orgy make me wish that the promo files came with some. The title and artwork makes me think of mass surveillance, the idea of being influenced by forces outside of your control, which death metal would be a great avenue to explore. There are tantalising implications of what could be meant by “Gentrification of the Soul”, and the fact that the phrase “Morning Star Over Deathlehem” is still making me smile as I write this. The whole aesthetic of Februus is excellent, and I'd love to have a better understanding of it.
If I have any gripes with this record, it’s only because I’d love to hear what Februus sounds like with a full lineup; a thought that I couldn’t get out of my head during my time with Surveillance Orgy is that the music would have benefitted from the added personality that a dedicated drummer and bassist would bring. Karlsson is an incredible guitarist and songwriter (I honestly think Luc Lemay, Dan Swano, maybe even Chuck Schuldiner comparisons wouldn’t be overselling it here) but the album is almost too guitar-centric, even for death metal. I had to listen really close and ask a guitarist/bassist friend for a second set of ears to find sections on the album (‘Resignation Syndrome,’ ‘The Price of Enterprise’) when the bass was doing something audibly different. It’s not exactly *buried* in the mix – it mixes with the guitar pretty well, but my mate pointed out that it had kind of a “clangy” tone, which I *could* hear once I knew what to key in to, but… I dunno, I had a whole spiel about this but after double-checking, I’m not so sure anymore.
I’m more confident in saying that Karlsson does have better instincts as a drum programmer: the parts are convincing and not overdone, the chosen samples actually pretty good. But as a drummer and a very rhythmically-minded music listener myself, I struggle to fully connect with metal that leans on sampled drums where real drums would just sound better; I would never deny that there’s artistry in drum programming, but when the point is to emulate a real drum performance it always sounds stiffer than it should, no matter how good it is in other respects. This isn’t really Karlsson’s fault; I know how hard it is to find reliable bandmates, especially drummers who can play and record with the proficiency that this kind of music requires (and aren’t in, like, five bands already). I really hope he tries/is able to find a drummer for the next record.
So yes. Good album, despite the word count dedicated to that last paragraph over the first two. I'd highly recommend Februus to basically any fan of extreme metal, especially if you’re normally bothered by the same things I have. Hell, even if you are, the riffs will probably win you over.
The re-release is/will be available at their Bandcamp on July 19th, go listen to the album there. Maybe buy yourself a tote bag and coaster. All courtesy of Transcending Obscurity.