F — I-III (review)

F — I-III album cover Album · 1994 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"I-III" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish avantgarde/experimental music artist F. The album was released through Ei Enää in 1993. F formed in 1989 under the Funcunt monicker and released two demos using that name before changing their name to F in 1993. They only released this debut album and a split with Bewitched from Chile later the same year before disbanding in 1994.

F is positively the weirdest and most experimental band to grow out of the late 80s/early 90s Finnish extreme metal scene and already on the last Funcunt demo "Coldeäccol" from 1991, they showed incredible playing skills, but more importantly a will to experiment and develop their sound in all sorts of directions. Let´s establish right away, that the tendency is continued here and even further explored making "I-III" an even more avantgarde and experimental release than "Coldeäccol". It´s almost otherworldly in nature and it´s probably an aquired taste, but to my ears this is quite brilliant.

Odd horror type keyboard themes, hypnotic psychedelic parts, sudden bursts of spastic technical mathcore playing, fusion rhythms, dissonance, and an overall alien atmosphere are some of the elements which make up this album. "I-III" features three tracks which ranges from being 12 to 18 minutes long, and they are all complex in structure and filled to the brim with crazy experimental music ideas. I hear influences from artists like Henry Cow, Faust, and Magma, but F still have some sort of connection to their extreme metal past, although this isn´t as such extreme metal...maybe it would be more correct to just call it extreme music.

The music features lengthy instrumental parts, but there are vocal parts here too, and just like the instrumental part of the music the vocal parts are a bit hard to describe. Sometimes they are chanted choirs, sometimes soft singing/odd talking, and sometimes shouting/screaming.

What makes "I-III" such an intriguing release which features a lot of replay value is that although this is crazy complex music which is wildly busy and odd, it´s still music which is coherrent and features reoccuring themes and songwriting ideas. So for all the avantgarde ideas and experimental excursions into this and that genre and playing style, F are still grounded enough to produce music featuring recognisable themes. These songs are actual compositions and not just a lot of weird musical ideas thrown together, although they certainly challenge the listener´s perception of what a composition can be. "I-III" features a raw, yet well sounding and detailed production job too and the musical performances are through the roof, so upon conclusion this is a high quality release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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