UMUR
"The Complicated Futility Of Ignorance" is the 3rd full-length studio album by UK, Nottingham based metal act Fudge Tunnel. The album was released through Earache Records in September 1994. It´s the successor to "Creep Diets" from 1993.
Stylistically the material on "The Complicated Futility Of Ignorance" are more of the same if you are familiar with the heavy groove laden metal of the two predecessors. The basis of the music are still heavy distorted groove riffs and rhythms, and sparse shouted vocals. The music has an almost hypnotic repetitive nature to it. It´s structurally simple music, and all tracks more or less focus on the heavy grooves and simple yet effective riffs. There really hasn´t been much development of sound and style since "Hate Songs in E Minor" was released in 1991, and although there is nothing wrong with the quality of the material or the musical performances, it was probably for the best that Fudge Tunnel disbanded after releasing "The Complicated Futility Of Ignorance". It does seem like the creative well had run dry and that they were more or less stuck playing the same thing over and over again.
"The Complicated Futility Of Ignorance" features a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production. It´s a step up from the sound production on "Creep Diets (1993)". So in many ways the album is a high quality release. Had Fudge Tunnel expanded on and experimented a bit more with their core sound, this could have been a very interesting release. Instead it´s a very solid effort featuring some powerful and effective grooves and riffs, which are instantly enjoyable, but it´s also a bit one-dimensional (and doesn´t sound vastly different from the two predecessors) and featuring 12 tracks and a total playing time of 62:37 it´s also a bit too long, when the material isn´t more varied than it is. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.