FURBOWL was one of the many underrated bands, which perished in the mass of Swedish Death Metal bands. Long time before Johan Liiva joined ARCH ENEMY, he and Max Thornell founded FURBOWL back in 1991. After two demos they released their first album “Those Shredded Dreams” back in 1992, which was released via the small label Step One Records. What is special about them is the fact, that they were the first band who incorporated that kind of groove into their Death Metal sound, which later got famous as Death’n’Roll after ENTOMBED released their “Wolverine Blues”. And listening to the material nowadays, one could think that ENTOMBED had a careful listen to “Those Shredded Dreams” before releasing “Wolverine Blues”. Their crazy mix of Death Metal, Hardcore and Jazz was ahead of its time and maybe they went too far back in the days as not everybody was open for material like this. Fun fact is that Michael Amott co-produced this album, so no wonder they joint forces after FURBOWL called its quits. The material itself has some chaotic structures here and there, but overall I must say, that they had a very fine sense for their music and melodies. I especially like the Gothic Death Metal notes in their sound, like in ‘Nothing Forever’ and their songwriting was very solid for a debut, which got released soon after the band was founded. They experimented a lot and Johan even did not hesitate to use clean vocals like in ‘Razorblades’. But the album definitely is worth to be re-discovered and another little underground treasure considering the year of its original release. The release also contains a lot of extra stuff like demo tracks, unreleased songs, live versions and a cover track of mighty VENOM. Finally Vic Records also rounded this re-release off with the original cover art, so all collectors should grab a copy of this little blast from the past, which aged very well and is a really enjoyable ride. More info can be found here: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071967814767, www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063485232579

Have you ever heard about a band from Växjö, Sweden called FURBOWL? Some of you might have and some of you don’t. But I am sure that all the readers of Voices From The Darkside can handle the term Death’n’Roll, right? The majority of people might have ENTOMBED on their mind. Of course these guys were to most successful band sailing under the flag of Death’n’Roll during the mid 90s. But did they invented this kind of music? No, they didn’t. So which band came up with this funky music? Who played Swedish Death Metal in the early 90s and mixed it up with ingredients like Hardcore, Punk, Rock’n’Roll and Gothic? Now it would make sense to know the name FURBOWL. Alrighty. Enough bla bla by the old man talking wise! Here are the facts for those of you who decided to continue reading this CD review written by a prejudiced diehard fan of this band! Originally FURBOWL released their debut CD "Those Shredded Dreams" in 1992 via Step One Records. Co-produced by Michael Amott (back then in CARCASS), this guy also delivered guitar solos for a few songs. This fine re-release here features the debut album and 2 video clips on CD1 (in the live clip from Uppsala 1993 you see young Tompa of AT THE GATES banging his dreadlocks to a song called ‘Razorblades’). All re-mastered. All sounding very honest, original, raw and still fresh. That’s the way brutal music has to sound in my ears. Natural recorded on 8-track tape. No digital fixing and wangling at all. The real deal. All natural by mother nature. You will hear immediately, that these guys wanted to be different, creative and independent back in the days. This is unique stuff. Probably the birth of Death’n’Roll music. Absolutely no boundaries here. Very risky if you ask me for those days. Because back then it was popular to be true in the vein of the traditional Stockholm Death Metal sound. Drifting away could be commercial suicide for bands and their record sells. But FURBOWL always stood for the music itself and not for fucking sales. CD 2 (the bonus disc) contains a bunch of extra stuff like early demos, unreleased songs, live versions, a VENOM cover song, etc.! All very charming and worth to call your own. The booklet features very funny and interesting liner notes by the main actors, namely Johan Liiva (vox, bass & guitars), Max Thornell (drums, keys) and Michael Amott (lead guitar). So you little boys and girls out there. Get up and go out for some CD shopping. This fine re-release of a legendary album by a legendary band is a must have for all Death Metal maniacs out there!!! One of the real few milestones!!! By the way: this re-release also should be available on double gatefold vinyl very soon. Hmmm…delicious!!! www.myspace.com/furbowl, www.vicrecords.com