There are many worthwhile things in life that come with patience and hope. For Death Metal acolytes, the new Funebrarum album is certainly up there. The band has long established a cult reputation within underground circles for their decidedly old school approach to the genre, stretching all the way back to the year 2000 where the idea of playing this style was considered passe. Their output in the span of over 2 decades had consisted of 2 killer albums and a handful of EPs, the latest being in 2016 (‘Exhumation of the Ancient’). After what seemed like an eternal wait, ‘Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence’ is here with us and continues to live up to the quality we’re accustomed to from this act.
Since ‘Old School Death Metal’ is a wide umbrella that covers many regional scenes, it’s important to refine a bit further what we mean by this. Funebrarum’s sound lies at the intersection between the cavernous and reverb-drenched formula of Incantation with the mid-paced tempo and gloomy melodies of 90s Finnish Death Metal. It’s a match that works fairly well as the crawling pace of the music fuses with the more crypt-like and subterranean echoing of the riffs. The album itself runs through the whole gamut of the Finnish scene, drawing from bands like Demigod, Depravity, Rippikoulu, Convulse and the aforementioned Demilich. It’s even striking how the final outro (‘The Whisphering Cathedral’) bears such an uncanny resemblance to Demigod’s ‘Perpetual Ascent’. In this respect, the band have reverted more in the direction of their debut ‘Beneath the Columns of Abandoned Gods’ rather than ‘The Sleep of Morbid Dreams’, which played with faster tempos. The big difference between then and now is the incorporation of a whole host of new members into the fold.
These include prolific guitarist Phil Tougas of Chthe’ilist fame (among many others) and Charlie Koryn on drums. Phil brings in some of the signature Demilich/Crematory riffs into the repertoire of the album, injecting a dose of angularity and chromatic half-steps into the riffs (see ‘Sa Nagba Amāru’). The distinct soloing also provides a very dynamic change in pace towards the music, providing some shredding quality to the general murkiness. Koryn might be the best modern Extreme Metal drummer and his fills are some of the most innovative. While he is an absolute menace with his blast beats, the way he pounds his kick drums during the slower segments does a great job of forging this suffocating and dark atmosphere. ‘Beckoning’ also employs a much more modern yet organic approach to the production. The record does both a great job of giving a booming, thick sound to the groovier sections yet also the melodic lead work and solos. To top it all off, Daryl excels in his vocal duties – low, snarling growls that cut through the filth on display.
The wait for this album has felt eternal, and no doubt the growing gap between releases generates a lot of expectation and pressure on the band to deliver. Luckily, Funebrarum did just that. I have seen many bands over the years claim to be inspired by the Finnish scene, but very few that represent a logical evolution of it. The American quintet are the best representations of it. Not just mere clones, but ones that understand the essence of the scene and give it their own spin.
