Album Review: FANGE - Purge
When I first read the promo for this noise-laden French act’s debut I must admit that my ears were ready to experience something entirely different from what I heard. The words classic Swedish death metal, crust, metallic-hardcore and HM-2 fuelled riffs all appeared as descriptors, leading me to believe that FANGE could very well count themselves among the legion of mediocre Trap Them clones who seem to be putting themselves out there nowadays. So I was pleasantly surprised when the first track “Cour Martiale” ripped through my headphones; and by the time the song had fully devolved into a mess of harsh noise, feedback, pummelling percussion and horrifically caustic snarls I found that my doubts were well laid to rest. FANGE shares more in common with noisy sludge groups like Thou, Indian and The Body than their promo might have you believe, and they’ve carved out an impressive spot next to those acts with their first studio album.
There is truth to the Swedish death metal, crust and hardcore descriptors in the sense that a d-beat or classic death metal groove or rhythm occasionally surfaces, but these truly are detours from FANGE’s base sound which seems to be abrasive, noisy sludge. These digressions are a great way to bring a new energy to the intentionally slow, atmospheric mood of the sludge sub-genre, and FANGE weave them into their songs seamlessly. For example, the second track - “Mâchefer” - constantly changes up its tempo, starting with a crust riff that’s fast enough to mosh to, eventually grinding down into a crushing march-like rhythm and then back into a final punk-influenced riff. Yet it never feels as if the band forcibly stitched several independent songs or ideas together, every new idea flows smoothly from its predecessor, giving every song a wholistic feel.
The band really shines when they find a groove and play with it until it has completely decomposed, like on the second half of “Roy-Vermine” one of my favourite tracks on the album thanks to its combination of harsh noise and swampy sludge riffs. The song literally slows to a grinding halt, slowly dissolving into a whirlpool of feedback, noise and vocalist M. Jungbluth’s disgustingly raspy snarls and growls; Which brings me to my favourite highlight of Purge: the vocals. Fans of extreme, noisy music take note, this is how it’s done. Jungbluth uses his monstrous voice as if it were an instrument played alongside FANGE’s buzzsaw guitars and pounding drums. As the music gets harsher and more abrasive so do the vocals, they sound just as ferocious and unhinged as the music itself. They’re also mixed incredibly well on this album, with just the right amount of reverb so that they feel inseparable from the rest of the cacophony. This is truly some A+ vocal delivery.
FANGE are one of those rare new extreme groups who I genuinely can’t wait to hear more from. I hope that they keep experimenting and pushing their own boundaries, god knows they can afford to. They’ve found a killer balance between harsh noise, sludge, hardcore/punk and death metal, and they can only benefit from pushing their limits further.
Standout Tracks: Mâchefer, Roy-Vermine, Étouffoir
Least Favourite Tracks: None
Rating: 8/10












