Herzog are a new Belgian black metal act with a clear vision and a sound that distills the darkness that makes this genre so addictive. While the band certainly manages to capture the essence of black metal this is music that is complex, transcendent and awe inspiring at its best. These are songs that take the core of black metal and adapt, shift and evolve them into something larger and darker, proving that the simple monochromatic pallet that we all know and love can in fact evolve into so much more when given the right musicians with the right vision.
Furnace impresses because of the breadth of the work. Even fro mthe album cover you know that you are diving into what is not going to be your tyical black metal record. Isntead this is a challenging and larger than life offering that consistently surprises and uses a tremolo picked approach counterbalanced by surprisingly tasteful drums to give Herzog a sound that is wholly their own. It's got a level of emotion few of the bands peers match up too and the end result is addictive, encouraging constant relistens to take in all that's going on here.
If you're looking for a black metal record that speaks to the tropes of the genre but also finds ways to distill the art into bold new places, then this is for you. Herzog have cultivated a vision that allows them to bend and twist black metal without ever crafting songs that are pretty or symphonic, but instead focused, fascinating, off kilter riffs. It's a creative outpouring of the sort that helps to make this genre so compelling and I suspect that soon we'll be hearing more from these Belgian visionaries.
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