When The Funeral Pyre released their debut "The Nature of Betrayal" on prosthetic, I wasn't too impressed with their symphonic black metalcore approach. Especially the dull keyboardist who seemed as if she was just playing a minor chords throughout all the songs. Now don't get me wrong I love keyboards, I’m a pianist myself, and it’s just the parts seemed thrown together. The songs didn't feel whole, they felt sloppy.
For their second release on prosthetic they kicked out the keyboardist and dropped all the metalcore annoyances from the last record. Now what we got here is a prime slab of pure emotion filled black metal. This album folks is a beast and they have my respect.
From the opening of Thieves were treated to the sounds of some ghostly voices from beyond the grave. That is until the infernal blasting kicks in and unleashes a fury of freezing guitars, unholy drums, and a wicked vocal performance, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Instantly it reminds one of Dark Funeral with their constant array of blasting. But the whole record doesn't just throw blast after blast at us until we are bored as death. No not at all, the songs themselves sound very different and memorable from each other.
Whether it be the wicked tremolo picking during "These Ties That Bind", which makes the guitars sound if there constantly twisting around (1:30) or the beautiful solo that just gives off a intense magical aura (2:30 to 3:20). The album title song "Wounds" is an eight minute epic that is all around dramatic in its delivery constantly bringing up memories of something Semargl did during their record "Attack on God". Not dramatic in the fake Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir delivery. I'm talking about pure exhilarating emotion that is just overflowing with majestic musicianship one usually only finds in classical music. In "Arches of Existence" they bring to mind "Brave Murder Day" Katatonia, with the guitars taking a doom approach and bringing a sense of dying into the whole equation. Now that may not sound off in a black metal record, one just has to listen to this to see for themselves.
The lyrics on this album are very interesting, in which they still seem to be about religion, dying, and death, yet they are given to us in a more mature manner sort of like how Samael did. In turn this makes the lyrics a much more enjoyable read. Letting us figure out the meanings to open up our minds and let the cold vast reaches of hell take hold of our souls.
This record is definitely one of the greatest black metal releases of this century. Showing people that black metal is far from finished and that this is only the beginning of darkness to come.
For their second release on prosthetic they kicked out the keyboardist and dropped all the metalcore annoyances from the last record. Now what we got here is a prime slab of pure emotion filled black metal. This album folks is a beast and they have my respect.
From the opening of Thieves were treated to the sounds of some ghostly voices from beyond the grave. That is until the infernal blasting kicks in and unleashes a fury of freezing guitars, unholy drums, and a wicked vocal performance, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Instantly it reminds one of Dark Funeral with their constant array of blasting. But the whole record doesn't just throw blast after blast at us until we are bored as death. No not at all, the songs themselves sound very different and memorable from each other.
Whether it be the wicked tremolo picking during "These Ties That Bind", which makes the guitars sound if there constantly twisting around (1:30) or the beautiful solo that just gives off a intense magical aura (2:30 to 3:20). The album title song "Wounds" is an eight minute epic that is all around dramatic in its delivery constantly bringing up memories of something Semargl did during their record "Attack on God". Not dramatic in the fake Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir delivery. I'm talking about pure exhilarating emotion that is just overflowing with majestic musicianship one usually only finds in classical music. In "Arches of Existence" they bring to mind "Brave Murder Day" Katatonia, with the guitars taking a doom approach and bringing a sense of dying into the whole equation. Now that may not sound off in a black metal record, one just has to listen to this to see for themselves.
The lyrics on this album are very interesting, in which they still seem to be about religion, dying, and death, yet they are given to us in a more mature manner sort of like how Samael did. In turn this makes the lyrics a much more enjoyable read. Letting us figure out the meanings to open up our minds and let the cold vast reaches of hell take hold of our souls.
This record is definitely one of the greatest black metal releases of this century. Showing people that black metal is far from finished and that this is only the beginning of darkness to come.
