Album Review: Funebrarum – Beckoning The Void of Eternal Silence
Reviewed by Sam Jones
When I saw Funebrarum would be releasing a new studio album my excitement hit and went through the roof, especially given how they’re lined up to perform at this year’s edition of Kill-Town Death Fest. Formed in 1999 out of New Jersey, United States, Funebrarum have established a reputation as one of the most cavernous and crushing acts in the history of extreme metal with initial Demos and their 2001 debut record, Beneath The Columns Of Abandoned Gods, setting the stage early on for what people would expect from them. Their second album would follow suit, The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams, after their first EP and Split respectively yet their release schedule would drastically slow down with only an EP or Split every three or four years until 2016 where things stopped entirely despite the band’s ongoing status. But recent years have seen the acquisition of Hulder guitarist Sam Osborne, Ascended Dead and Chthonic Deity drummer Charlie Koryn, guitarist phenom Phil Tougas of Chthe’ilist and Atramentus whilst retaining Kyle Winslow on bass, as Daryl Kahan remains the sole original member on vocals. After seventeen years Funebrarum are back with a new album, Beckoning The Void Of Eternal Silence, slated for a May 29th release via Pulversised Records and I couldn’t wait to delve into the band’s antediluvian soundscape once again.
After nearly two decades their introductory track feels like the band’s declaration to wage war upon the senses, for their mission here is twofold: obliterate longtime fans and also hearken a new generation of fans to their midst. With apocryphal drums and miasmic vocals think enough to suffocate dreams, Funebrarum get their first release in a long time going with copious strength. But should naysayers believe the band’s power left them in this interim they’ll be plenty silenced for their riffs drip maliciously with dread like blood pooling where it falls. Within the opening minute even the most belligerent doubters will find themselves headbanging to Funebrarum’s atmospheric repute. Seventeen years? If you asked the band they may think it only seventeen seconds since their last album.
Funebrarum’s guitar tone is revered as one of the most devastating in extreme metal, a blueprint for many burgeoning acts today, yet it’s not so destructive we can’t follow what’s happening. The guitar tone may be akin to a thousand cinderblocks crashing upon your skull but you’ll always know where the songwriting is taking you, or when certain segments end and new ventures begin. The songwriting is never some static force residing within a single location for small minutiae present themselves throughout the tracks, developing the songwriting subtly but to great effect. This could be the implementation of a new riff, faster tempo, an altered course etc. I appreciate that after so much time they still went to that extra effort to make their record worth remembering long after your listening of it is past.
Whilst Funebrarum are comfortable playing with speed, and seething vitriol thrown behind said speed, it’s staggering what they’re able to conjure when their ferocity abates momentarily. There are sequences here that bring the innate horror of Funebrarum’s soundscape to a head, where all preconceptions face value violence are stripped back and the true, apathetic vulgarity of their sound is brought to light. But even as they employ these slower sections their momentum refuses to cease; you’ll always feel like they’re stopping for nothing and whilst they’re slowing a touch it’s only to reveal something altogether insidious whether that be via the riffs, drumming or that secondary guitar they know how to utilise so effectively.
With such merciless songwriting that Funebrarum have reared a reputation for over just two albums and a slew of EPs, it’s great to acknowledge their more intricate, technical edge towards album structure and how incorporating a break halfway through aids the overall experience. The bludgeoning tone doesn’t become detrimental to our enjoyment and including such instances nicely carves the record into distinct phases. Some people get crushed by the continuous swathes of tone a band like Funebrarum exhibit, but this care shown towards the audience ensures we will back numerous times over since the first listen proves their approach to album structure was for the best.
In conclusion, Funebrarum’s first album in seventeen years is exactly what I’d hoped a new Funebrarum album would be. It’s massive in scope, does what the band have provided in past releases but at the same time pushes past expectations of vehement power alone, offering something spectral and intangible. Regarding songwriting the band haven’t changed their approach greatly; this is the very Funebrarum that made their name big with their earlier records but it’s clear some new elements have gone into this release. It’s far from recycled material and it’s the Funebrarum you know and love from the first utterance of that tone. I’m hoping this heralds a new era for the band as this is one act I have been waiting for years to hear a follow-up and I’m not disappointed; one feels the gravitas behind this release easily. I cannot wait to report on their performance in person come this September at Kill-Town Death Fest
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