About Me
here we have a true metal hardcore band formed in the mid 90's. rooted with pride and honor in the old and new schools of these two musical pourings. forefathers in their hometown monterrey, nuevo leon, mexico in their style, so to speak, descending from the attitude of bands like the cro-mags and agnostic front. if rightfully one could assuredly state that this was the band whocreated and developed what is today one of the strongest scenes of their country, achieving a considerable recognition within the local underground, nationally and even in other underground streams of latin america. their sound and ideology started from an "old school hardcore" with a certain dosage of "metal" portraying a noticeable influence of other bands beside the aforementioned, such as slayer, slayer and sick of it all. nonetheless, after their first demo, recorded in ' 97, in the songs written in the process of latter times, one can observ how the doses of metal steadily incremented. to a degree in which today their sound is influenced and can be likened to that of bands such as: machine head, maroon, stigmata, killswitch engage, chimaira, all that remains, lamb of god, shadows fall, exodus, sworn enemy, skinlab, zao, hatebreed, life of agony, merauder, and sub-zero........... and be it as varied, interesting or strange as some might find it, furens actually manage to blend integrally all of their influences in one way or another (namely lyrics, music, attitude or presence) to ultimately show what they are: " a band with a true and unique feeling". altogether one could say that if their first homonimous material comes across as a hardcore deeply rooted in the "new york style" of those years, the second one entitled "ovecome" (2002) tries and succeds in demonstrating the progress and experience and musical experience through a more easily grasped, but intense metal, cause of a blending of influences spearheaded in the one hand by "age of quarrel" by the cro-mags and "burning red"/"the more things change" by machine head in the other. and in their most recent and latest production, perhaps both formulas of their two previous records are kept, but adding to this much more brutality through a thrashier feeling, breaks, and a speed moreso accentuated, and of course, without eliminating that distinctive feeling of rage or hatred that emanates from the guitars and vocals.... the latter constantly alternating between melodic and ripping. and so, developing their sound, but leaving their attitude and ideology almost intact, the band regroups in 2001, after its fatidic break up of '98, thus initiating the years of inactivity. for within the lifetime of this band there have been great and varied dead periods, as well as varied and different line ups, but always fronted by one or the two of the brothers (carlos- vocals, raul- lead guitar) it is not in vain to say that currently there are former furens members spread in more than 10 bands of the local scene, among which rave from hardcore, punk or even metal bands. a fact that undoubtedly reveals the furious as true young blooded veterans, who currently fluctuate between the ages 21 - 28. and in case some might ask why is there so much variation in the styles adopted by the exmembers themselves. the answer could be that the furious listen to not only the bands that make an influence to furens, but they go though and cover various styles in their record collection, and for different moments on their lives. it is not strange to go to a barbecue at their house and find that the background music is the bouncing souls or social distortion, to later see them change it to the sound of spm, dre or dmx, and finally watch them babble because of the effect of tequila and beer to celtic frost, napalm death, neurosis or skinless, and see them greet a new dawn to anthrax, exhorder, testament or nuclear assault. each one has their own personality and their own musical taste, but mainly, they all converge in most of the same, specially regarding their own and real pouring. AN UNUSUAL START if we were to detail the farthest startoff point of this band , it would be important to say that , as weird as it may seem, it all started with an old acoustic guitar of raul's, with it he learned to play when he was 12 or 13 years old, playing exploited, agnostic front and circle jerks songs. the young "skinhead" uninterested in school didn't own an electric instrument till 2 years later, when he got a stolen amp and bass. it was in that old acoustic guitar that the first chords of "madness" and "not a traditional man" were first played. but these songs weren't yet named so, since some of these riffs would first belong to another hardcore punk band with skinhead tendencies to which raul joined ..... but not for long. he'd then form his own band (furens) as bass player with his own songs, with a drummer (sannie) and a guitar player (ciro) both of whom in these days are part of the punk rock band kluster. since the first practice 4 songs were completed and recorded ("my behavior", "sickening", "silent voices" and "madness") the same which a week later would have names, lyrics and vocals by carlos, raul's older brother, who had just broken up with his project metal band that resulted unsatisfactory. it was thus that furens started out full on, on spring break '95, letting out all of the bullshit that filled the minds of two adolescent brothers who came from a good neighborhood, in which existed one of those so called "homes" that silently crumble, moral and economically. due to this fact they had to study, practice and work at the same time, not only to acquire instruments, but also to buy clothing, pay for school and food. it is perhaps as they say "something good has to come out of something bad".... so there..... as the next few years passed the band developed and became known from '96 through '98 thanks to the support of faithful friends and fans, and of the then "hardcore-punk" scene of monterrey. being furens the first band to brand their distinctive style of hardcore, since in those years this scene was more strongly associated with punk rock and its tendencies, and not so much with the style that we now know and consider more of madball or cromags for example. it was thus that they created a new scene with no intention of making a division, it was simply that different people who got interested in this "new style to the city" started going to their shows (straightedgers, skate-boys, skinheads and metal heads) while many others stopped being part of the same...... some held grudges and grew resentful, others dissapeared, but the true ones prevail and remain there. in 1996 they won first place on the CEDECO contest, among over 40 bands in the "amateur" (beginner) category, winning a money price to replace the second hand equipment and instruments that they owned. and in 1997 they won again, this time second place, but in the "professionals" category, to then become 12 hours at a recording studio and make their first studio demo, simply entitled: furens. the judges of the aforementioned event claimed to never before have seen such a viloent slam or circle pit in their lives. the moment the furious went up on stage to plug in, the espectators emptied the bleachers to come down and be a part of the violent pit, which was of such magnitude that clouds of dust rose at the rythm of "black days" and "obligate". the moment the winners were announced the judges themselves shook as the roaring discontent of the crowd was heard because of the second place. nonetheless, and as mentioned above, the band dissolves, due to internal problems and to let things cool off. more than 2 years passed, maybe lost, or maybe not, if we consider that on one side, this dissolution was given as the second and never recorded demo was being made, and on the other side if we appreciate that in those years the furious acquired a greater musical experience, by patricipating with different instruments in other bands and projects. raul joined as drummer to the band "against". carlos kept on singing with their original drummer, sannie, humberto (who now sings for "por vida") and beto (ex-endless) in a group that for some was still furens, but for many others wasn't. at this stage they only performed a couple of times in the length of three years, and with a pair of never recorded songs ("al despertar" {at the wake} and "entre muros" {between walls}) it was exatctly in that year of '98, not long before the break up, that furens were transforming themselves more into the metal side, evenso, today they themselves assure that if they'd had the needed ability as musicians from the beginning, they would have always played the style they play today. RESSURRECTION OF THE PHOENIX once the adversities were resolved in previous years, furens re-emerges as the phoenix. this time it would be carlos who'd give the first step to retake the path (proposition for raul to return) a reconsideration of the concept, sound and members was made. without a doubt this time the second skin would be conceived in the flames of metal. raul would shift from bass to guitar, in the drums and bass would be ramiro and toño (within 2002) members of what today is "invictus maneo", but as they left the band to be part of the aforenentioned band, one who is as the tird brother would step in to play bass, carlo, who even got in in time to record for "overcome" drums would be handled by cesar (joining in 2003) and their joungest and recently welcomed second guitar player, fer (also member of last bullet, joining in late 2004) the making of the song "scorn" would give way to their second independent recording, which would mark their return under the name "overcome" (2002) a record with 8 songs. made under real events, captured in their lyrics and with charecteristics aforedetailed. once everything related to the pressing of the cd was done and concluded with, furens took part in various tours and events, obviously related to the dimentions of an independent underground band, among which stand out: opening the monterrey performance of kittie in 2003 and also forming part of the bill with chimaira in late 2004, performing in the nuevo laredo tatoo convention, contest winner as most voted for by the audience of the radio show "new metal" to play alongside ill niño (although the event was cancelled in its latter stage) two performances in tampico, texas, and of course multiple local shows and events alongside their brother bands: invictus maneo, por vida and last bullet. it's been almost three years to the date since that recording which marked the second coming, and even though each member has their own occupations and responsabilities, furens maintains firm and constant in thier performance and development, (what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger) through at times slow, but sure steps that periodically drive them into distress, maybe for being a metal band in a country with little if not nule support by distros and record companies. that as many of us know there aren't any in mexico who fully focus on metal. to this we can add the poor engineering, mastering and recording quality of most of the local recording studios, that are little informed or experienced in how to record metal acts. and to finish with, let's not forget the high prices that all of this conveys. FROM THE FILTH OF THESE MEN'S EMPIRES despite all this bullshit, we can assure that furens will go on from "yesterday, today and always", their third and last production is in process, its name: imperator/from the filth of these men's empires. with 6 new tracks entitled: fuego en la sangre "fire in the blood", through the eyes of the wolf, sacra, from the filth of these men's empires and two new songs as of yet unnamed and still in process. letting all the anger that can be unleashed be felt through a crafted metal-hardcore, these new songs will probably make a certain remembrance of that old thrash of past decades, but being made to be felt as a new strengthened band, concise in their attitude and ideology, with enough experience to face any type of challenge or adversity..... furens has been present since the beginning of it all, and will continue to be around, for good or for bad..... as their friends often say: "long life to the godfathers of monterrey hardcore" these new tracks will be complemented in their third production with other 5 songs of the previous one, (overcome) rerecorded to pull out the thorn on the side and the bad taste that the insatisfactory recording engineering left. it is expected that all of this will be concluded in march 2005. currently furens continues to be a band that is true to their roots, who have adopted hardcore for almost a decade , as as a way of life more than a musical style. dedicating their essence to their scenes, and seeking always a greater expansion. here's a band that is symbolically self denominated as the phoenix, for its imposition to the fact of dying, the griffon for experience and wit of the game, as the dragon for its strength and if we were to speak of a real animal, we'd speak of the wolf. furens: latin word meaning furious, filled with rage. </div
