Pofony
Cure Of Another Kind
6.4
I have been blindly spinning this album for a couple of weeks now and just now looked and realized that Pofony are an unsigned band. The reason for my surprise is because this is a well-written, album of core-tinged melodic death adorned with passable production. Better yet for all you at home: they are giving the album away for free on their site.
Judging by the chord-heavy, blunt approach to their music, I would not have guessed that Pofony are Finnish. This lacks the squeaky-clean polish of the metal that Finland is typically known for (Bodom, etc.), but that isn’t always a negative. Pofony’s vocalist has a harsh, gargling voice that varies from high to low in pitch, but never becomes any more discernable. He can sound like anyone screaming their lungs out, from Phil Anselmo to Anders Friden. Cleanly-sung passages appear in a few spots, most notably in “Jaded”.
“Blade” is a beast of a song with a thunderous intro consisting of a fierce death metal riff backed up by pummeling drum work. This is perhaps their heaviest song, with much of the rest of the album slowed down just a bit. There is a lot of simpler, more groove-driven riffage, although they do find a rare solo here and there (“Myth of Blooming”, etc).
Grading this album isn’t so much a matter of finding what’s wrong with it, but rather finding where they could’ve made the record better. They rely on caustic and choppy riffs too often for my tastes which mostly serve to fill in the open space, rather than to add a whole lot to the song. For those interested in bands that toe the metalcore/melodic death line and do so with admirable intensity, Pofony could be your band. Check out those free tunes.
