Furze is a one-man black metal project, the brainchild of one
Woe J. Reaper. Previous releases have been fairly traditional, old-school, ultra-primitive black metal: buzzing guitars, fast but minimalist drumming, croaked/shrieked vocals, little or no bass, and a generally dank basement atmosphere.
Reaper Subconscious Guide is very, very different. The long tracks are built around slow riffs that would have a doomy power if they weren't produced with the same primitivism as the earlier releases. Consequently, they sound like demos more than full-fledged songs. There are also fast parts, but the slowness seems the point. The drums are somewhat higher in the mix than they deserve to be, given
Reaper's merely adequate skill on the kit. And the vocals, which are occasionally doubled ("It Leads…"), sound like an imitation of
Pentagram's
Bobby Liebling, with intermittent death growls. There's also a tiny bell that crops up in the corner of the sound field, ringing incessantly through certain songs, but at least it keeps a relatively steady rhythm, which is more than can be said of the drums. There are many moments where
Reaper fails to keep the guitar, bass, and drums together, despite the fact that he played all three and overdubbed them. Ultimately, this album is amateurish and crude, which may be the point, but knowing that does little to add to the listener's pleasure.