Ektomorf - Fury

Quite open about his admiration (to the point of very close emulation) of Soulfly’s early Roots / Primitive sound, Ektomorf’s gypsy frontman Zoltán Farkas followed Max’s transition into heavier, more death metal influenced music on Ektomof’s 2015 album, Aggressor, which was a move away from the bouncy tribal nu metal of albums like Outcast, but Zoli’s energy and attitude on the record was at least convincing and his focus on mobile grooves kept the record from being too boring. Yet it was still kind of Ektomorf by the books, simply channeling heavier Soulfly that time around. Fury is the blunt, slightly upgraded version of the band’s previous album, with the notably heavy use of 8-stringed guitars across the album, which I’d say the band make good use of, applying heavy, jumpy grooves through.

While none of the riffs are super unique or memorable, palm-muted guitar-driven (and drum syncopated) grooves like those on “Bullet in Your Head”, “The Prophet of Doom”, “Blood for Blood”, and “Infernal Warfare” are enjoyable and moving while they’re on. A lasting impression, however, is what they don’t give.

As usual, Zoli’s simplistic strife-filled lyrics are kind of a waste of time digging into, but his vocal delivery has just enough attitude to persuade that he is indeed singing with conviction. 

Fury is an album of appropriate length for its style and its rather one-note writing; it doesn’t drag on or overstay its welcome. It just comes, plays its crunchy, fast, jumdafuckup grooves, and leaves, and considering how effective it is, it’s hard to get too upset about it. I doubt it’ll be blowing anyone’s minds, but as an efficient down-tuned groove metal release, it’s pretty satisfactory.