Even though it has been 7 long years since Poland’s experimental black metal act Furia released Księżyc milczy luty back in 2016, the sexy ass song “Zwykłe czary wieją” still gets a lot of airtime and kept the band on my radar over the years. So I was delighted when Huta Luna showed up out of nowhere.

Now, this album is certainly a bit different than Księżyc milczy luty, but still fucking excellent. For starters, it’s way more fierce and urgent than Księżyc milczy luty’s more sultry, hazy, sway. Literally, I’m pretty sure that after the opener “Zamawianie trzecie”,  drummer Namtar, barely breaks stride from a stirring, 6/8 blast beat for a few minutes in the album runtime.

Let’s start with the minor quibble side, the vocals are few and far between on Huta Luna. And when they do show up, it’s a chant, spoken word, or shouts of some sort, nothing traditionally black metal at all. And second, the last track “Księżyc, czyli Słońce”, while listed at a whopping 27 minutes long, is all ambient noises and stuff, making up for virtually half the album’s hour run time, so that’s really only 30 or so minutes of actual music.

But what a 30 minutes it is! There are so many goddamn great riffs on the other 9 songs, and even with the largely instrumental and repetitive pace, they are all top-notch melodic tremolo picked, shrill, but warmer, but fuzzier throes that will get under your skin.

From the aforementioned opener “Zamawianie trzecie” through “furiously punky Na koń!”, riotous “Wracaj”, personal favorite “Idz!”, “Maska masce” or “Gore!” is a jangly, throbbing, blasting riff fest that’s addictive as heck.  That said, I can see how some might find the likes of Swawola niewola”, “Spanie polskie”or “Zamawianie wirujących Sarmatów (czwarte)” a bit repetetive.

Huta Luna is simultaneously an album that hits some super high notes when those riffs deliver the goods, but also somehow wanders a bit in its own repetition. But those highs outweigh the lows and make Huta Luna worth your time.

[Visit the band's website]

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