The Furnace: Only Ashes Remain

This cover brings back so many memories. So do all the songs.

For those of you who don't know, this is my brother Danny's band. Or it was. But it's so much more. He pours an insane amount of energy into making music.

Always has.

I remember his first guitar. He practiced relentlessly. Building his skills and honing his natural talent. Nothing made me smile more than hearing Tony Iommi's licks screeching from his bedroom. Or that one time he played along with Scotty Moore, improvising a solo to Elvis's "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck." I wonder if he remembers or knows how much I admire the passion he shows for his art. He composes as naturally on guitar as I do with pen and paper. Or as naturally as he does with pen and paper! Did you know he's a heavy metal critic? How fucking cool is that? Just check out this webpage to get a flair: Heavy Music HQ.

This post isn't just to brag about my little brother, but fuck yeah, I'm going to brag. About him and his wife Dawn, who shows unending support for his music. I don't know if she's ever missed a single performance, but I bet she hasn't.

This is really the first in a series of posts to present his albums as a preface to the release of my brand new novel, Raised on Rock. My brother's spirit is on every page of that book. That's why I dedicated it to him. For all those years ago.

I should note that The Furnace was really Danny's third band (from what I recall). He ran a little teenybopper, Nirvana-inspired, alternative group called Lust Mustard and a pre-Furnace metal band (what The Golliwogs were to CCR) called Thorne (or maybe Damien Thorne). Either way, I stole that name for my novel. Or let's call it, paying tribute. Anyhow, it's what I named my hero's garage band.

So, Only Ashes Remain, right? An excellent debut. Each song has a solid groove with memorable vocal lines. In fact, the tracks have been stuck in my head since I started prepping for this post.

Fittingly, the disc opens with "Thorne," which I suspect was a holdover from the previous band. Tough to remember. Keep in mind, this was a 1999 release. A lot of shit has happened in the last twenty years. Either way, vocalist Kevin Flowers makes the track his own, like he does on all the numbers. He's got a bit of an Eddie Vedder/James Hetfield thing going on, which works perfectly for the era. Although you might giggle if you think of Seth McFarland's Ted, who impersonates all 90s vocalists at Flash Gordon's drug-infested party.

Anyhow, back to The Furnace. Danny gives the opener a Zakk Wylde feel, which describes so many of the riffs on this album. No surprise there. Zakk played lead for Ozzy back then. And if you didn't know that Ozzy matters to Danny or me, then how are you reading this? I hear "Gets Me Through" before "Gets Me Through" was a song. Maybe Zakk liked The Furnace. He should have.

I'm partial to the next track, "Raise the Dead," because I co-wrote the lyrics with Danny. Honestly, I can't tell which are mine anymore, but "I feel your pain/coming through from the other side" and "Through an open door/the winds blow up and down" sound suspiciously like me. Danny's got a Tony Iommi thing going on, but I still hear Zakk.

Let me take a moment right now to mention how great the rest of the supporting cast is on this album. Paul Burch, one of my favorite drummers, has a simple, powerful style that provides a solid drive, while bassist Joe Noyes (I truly hope that's pronounced "noise" because you know, heavy metal and all) holds rhythm under Danny's riffs and leads with necessarily understated craft.

If the album had a hit single, it would've been the fourth track, "Bury My Bones," which I remember hearing on local radio stations (or at least dreaming that I did). A classic rocker with great structure and tempo. The prechorus steals the song as the music fades to a whisper under Kevin's haunting vocals. The chorus returns with a thumping overlay of the refrain carried along by superb instrumentation and precise timing. If you're not singing along by the time it's finished, you must not've had your volume up. It's infectious.

The standout track could very well be "The Child." Danny plays his best "Mama I'm Coming Home" intro or maybe even "Diary of a Madman," an amazing tribute to his idol Randy Rhodes. More importantly, the gentle melody and gut-wrenching lyrics take me back to the year we each had our first child. Kevin handles the melody with grace. Probably the best vocal performance he ever put down on record. Danny's incredible, sweeping lead makes my eyes water, especially now as I'm about to watch my firstborn go off to college. "Wipe the tear/hold her hand/look inside the eyes/of your child." I lose myself in those words.

I'll stop taking apart each track here but know that every song is equally as good as the next. There's absolutely zero filler. You only hear the genesis of a band fighting for recognition. Hungry for an audience. Danny might disagree because he's his own harshest critic, but I fucking love the production quality and mix of this disc. It puts me right in the studio and makes me feel like a bandmate, which is all I want from any rock and roll album.

I realize this post ran long, but I needed to get through all the introductory bullshit. I promise I'll go right into the music for the next album, Beyond What's Become. And if I can find out how to purchase these discs, I'll post links. For now, use Google or message me. I'll see what I can do.