Culture

Universal
(1/5)


 
The phrase “strictly better” is used in some strategy games to describe when one move, choice, or play is better than another in any given circumstance. It isn’t often used in reviews. The notion of a book, movie, or song always being better than another doesn’t traditionally bind well with the concept of subjectivity. Regardless, I can safely say that Lateralus, the 2001 release from prog-metal giant Tool, is strictly better than Fornax Chemica’s new album Chemical Furnace.
Everything about Chemical Furnace emulates Lateralus. Everything. It has the same chuga-chuga guitar with the ‘proggy’ interludes. It has the same drum sound, complete with the same time signatures. The same bass sound. The only thing which is missing is the vocals. Fornax Chemica foregoes them. Maybe they couldn’t find anyone who sounded enough like Maynard James Keenan?
There is little point in pursuing this review further. Chemical Furnace is unashamedly identical, and I mean IDENTICAL, to an instrumental release of Lateralus. They had might as well have removed the vocal track and resold the album with a ‘Fornax Chemica’ sticker over the Tool logo. If you are the biggest Tool fan the world has ever seen, you may want to listen to this. It will sound familiar.