Furyon Barfly Camden 29-03-15

First up were Kickfist who played a maelstrom of noise with elements of Slipknot thrown in.Singer Zakk Zander wore a pig style mask and belted an oil drum as added percussion.
No Bullshit was an apt song title and somewhere among the sound there was an undercurrent of a melody and a romp though The Prodigy's Fire Starter ended a high energy set.

I was looking forward to Fahran who with Matt Black (ex Serpentine)on vocals released their second album Chasing Hours last year.

I wasn't disappointed as they smashed their way through a 7 song set with 6 played from Chasing Hours.

Here is what they played.
Some Kind Of Family
I Heard A Joke Once
Take This City Alive
Cased In Steel
Long Gone
Ashes
A Thousand Nights

With a 2 guitar riff heavy assault with both Jake and Chris able to solo and riff to their hearts content and ably backed up by Josh on bass and JR on drums.

Matt's melodic tones fit the music perfectly and with big choruses and riffs a plenty the 30 minute set flew past and left the crowd wanting more.

Let's get these guys on an arena support and watch them go!!

In one weeks time an amazing 5 years ago I saw Furyon for the one and only time support Winger and they blew me away and with their debut cd Gravitas getting rave reviews the big time beckoned.

5 years have flowed under the bridge and at last we have a new Furyon album the excellent Lost Salvation and a headlining tour too.

For 65 minutes Furyon worked their way through a 12 song set heavily favoured to the Gravitas cd but with enough new material to show us the way forward.

Here is what they played.

My biggest worry before the show was how were they going to replicate the stunning guitar work on both albums from the now departed Chris Green.

No need to worry as his replacement Chris Webb from the opening notes of the monumental Disappear Again was simply fantastic.He riffed hard but his soloing was jaw dropping as he showed enough respect to the original solo but added his own flair with always a touch of melody and not just a flurry of notes.Time after time he nailed every note in a display that made me forget Chris Green and look forward to new journeys with him in the band.(Speaking to him as he left the stage he said he couldn't join the band last year due to work commitments and the album had been completed but he was now in fulltime and I congratulated him on nailing it!!)

To his right Alex Bowen on bass was calmness personified with a grin on his face enjoying the moment.Tiago Rosado on guitar riffed away all night and added one solo and Lee Farmery on drums held it all together with his precision powerhouse style.


Since his days in the wonderful Pride Matt Mitchell has been a class act and nothing has changed as he worked the stage and his vocals were a joy with a superb tone and always melodic amongst the riffing barrage behind him.He is able to put his voice into the stratosphere with a range few can match.

None of this would be possible without quality songs and Furyon have them in abundance.

Opener Disappear Again was just wonderful.Huge riffs and a pounding rhythm build to a chorus to die for before the first of many out of this world guitar solo's from Chris Green.

The title track of the new album Lost Salvation fitted in perfectly with its big riff with extra guitar melodies thrown in by Chris and a big big chorus with Matt's voice soaring in a song built for arenas full of fans singing it back to the band.

The mid song section had 2 songs perfectly matched with Don't Follow being followed by newie These Four Walls.Both are classic rock songs all riff and bouncing rhythm team all leading to Matt nailing the choruses with more melody that most bands of this genre can only dream about.So great when new and older material mould together seamlessly.

Our Peace Someday had some of my beloved light and shade with a lighter interlude giving Matt a chance to shine with a breathtaking vocal which along with Chris's guitar melody line and solo had this as an evening highlight.The lengthy solo showed Chris's class as it is a slower pace than normal and the outro solo alongside Matt's vocal was superb.

Scapegoat and All That I Have from the new cd rounded off the set.The former all rolling riff and Matt's powerful chorus and the latter song that opens the cd has light and shade in the verse that builds to the chorus as all the band crash in before another huge chorus.

Fan favourite Voodoo Me was a well deserved encore with the crowd bellowing the chorus before the band left to a rousing reception.

This left me thinking how are Furyon not headlining arenas they have the quality of songs and the playing and vocals are world class so with the new album out and a settled line up the sky should be the limit.

Superb.