Hailing from Santiago, Chile; Funeralis are a Black Metal quartet who in 2020 released their second full length album entitled ‘Gateways to Esoteric Light’, which was put out on double LP and CD by Schattenkult Producktionen. Funeralis, a band active since back in 2012, are a band whose level of thinking certainly surpasses my own, so don’t expect any deep insight into Gnosticism and Luciferianism from me. I am capable of describing how this sinister album sounds though so strap in!
Sinister is the optimal word here. From the grandiose organ intro which clashes spectacularly with thunderclaps and brooding riffs, to crushing blast beats and furious growled vocals; everything about this opus screams of darkness and sinister intent. Screams it, right into your face!
Right on cue, ethereal monastic chanting rises from the pitch black before lapsing underneath a cacophonous wall of percussion and hammering bass tones. And the album isn’t all full throttle blast beat driven mania either; there are some spectacular Death Metal influenced chugging sections of groove drenched intensity, broken up by piercing screams and shrieks from the bowels of the deep abyss.
Blissfully performed and briefly used tremolo picking, demonic ritualistic chanting and a backdrop of pummelling yet expertly played drum tones can all be found too throughout the album, all wrapped up within a tight package of professional musicianship and strong creativity, meaning that ‘Gateways to Esoteric Light’ is an album that twists, turns, bends, contorts and snakes its way forward on its journey to becoming a sublime and esoteric listening experience.
