It seems very strange and not a little out-of-character for us here at the good ship Metalreviews never to have covered experimental Poles Furia! The four-piece started their career in the early 2003s with the relatively straightforward blackened intensity of Martwa Polska Jesień and turned very strange indeed by the time they reached 2021's W śnialni, a much more out-there record which turned more towards the post-punk. In comparison, Furia's seventh full-length Huta Luna is a step back towards black metal orthodoxy, although still far more unusual than most from that genre is these days - opener Zamawianie trzecie proving this almost immediately with muttered words before a surprisingly grandiose battering. It's closer to the likes of Botanist than Graveland, even with the snarled group vocals and cymbal-heavy drumming, thanks to the guitar lines being similarly shimmering melodic lines.

And from then on the album flows nicely, songs weaving together thanks to clever reuse of riff patterns, the bellowed vocals acting sometimes as song breaks themselves rather than interfering with the music. Highlights are frequent although difficult to describe, such as the more spiritual, almost western vibe from Na koń! with its dramatic strums beneath the battering. There's a subtle epic nature to the riffing frequently, particularly on Maska Masce aided by the near-psychedelic turn the track takes with repetitions of the title. And Gore! is one of the most atmospheric pieces of the first half of the album, feeling almost avant-garde with the rising background reverberations that continues through into the final track...

The second half of the album is taken up with a single long ambient piece titled Księżyc, czyli Słońce, and well, dear readers, you already know whether a twenty-seven-plus minute ambient piece is going to be up your alley or not. It's quite interesting as far as ambient pieces go, more of a field recording type than a Burzumic repetitive keyboard piece, but it retains listener interest pretty well thanks to the fact that something is always happening however slowly or drawn out. The use of percussion here and there helps, as does the shifting background hums which can build to near-cacophony around the halfway point alongside the almost orchestral percussion. In the second half particularly, a more expansive, stranger feel takes hold, a little noisier and with half-muffled voices, building on the ceremonial feel with the percussion and some chanting, not to mention the later footsteps/chewing noises!

It's surprisingly unsettling, and different enough from the earlier black metal pieces to be fascinating in its own right. Perhaps lengthy ambient pieces are not for you, and that's fine. Yet Furia are one of those truly rare gems, an experimental black metal group that consider the black metal aspect of their sound to be as important if not moreso than the experimental aspects, and there'll be something in their discography that resonates with you if you've read this far. Probably never hipster enough to be covered by Pitchfork and certainly not flavour of the week by any standard, Furia nonetheless deserve the attention of the discerning necronauts out there.