Funerarium "Nocthule" CD

New album from this grim Black Metal Horde from the woods of Luxembourg. Cold and Dark sound in the vein of early SHINING, FORGOTTEN TOMB, ARCKANUM, BURZUM, and BRANIKALD. Mostly mid-paced melancholy, suicidal, and utterly grim obscure atmosphere with a thick, fuzzed-out density fronted by reverb-drenched vocals totally creeping forth from the depths of the abyss !

The second and latest output of Funerarium delivers black metal in its initial form. The unholy aura of the music is perfectly visualized by the sinister cover motif. Furthermore, just have a look at the unreadable logo. It gives another reliable indication of the musical direction. Funerarium follow the same way like, for instance, the Canadians of Funeral Fog on their very recommendable album "Channelling Ancient Shadows". As a first conclusion we can note that the packaging is an eyecatcher, at least from my point of view. But of course, don´t judge a book - or a black metal album - by its cover.
Funerarium offer the complete spectrum of emotions that are typical for the genre: hatred, despair, misanthropy, isolation and so on. The vigorous songs avoid half-baked experiments but come straight to the point, although the songwriting is not kept simple. Epic but nevertheless untamed pieces with a length of seven or even ten minutes may be an indication of their ambitioned compositions. Consequently, it never gets boring on this full-length. Quite the contrary, Funerarium credibly deliver a couple of underground hits. The probably best example of this is the completely convincing title track. After a furious start with a bulky riff and up-tempo drumming, the song develops an excellent flowing guitar melody, too. The interplay of very harsh outbursts and melodic parts works very well, while the inhuman voice also leaves its mark. But there are more masterpieces to discover. I do not exaggerate when I say that black metal fans will surely enjoy every second of "The Curse / Ontology of the Trinity", although this is the longest piece on this full-length. But it does not matter at all which song you like to test, all of them offer solid and diversified black metal at least while constantly emanating pure musical somberness. Regardless of the fact that Funerarium consists of just two persons, the technical skills leave no questions unanswered.
This consistent album clearly surpasses its predecessor due to the higher quality of the well structured compositions without adopting new musical pathways. The adequate production is also better than it was on the debut. It might not be exceptional, but it remains true to the underground and fits exactly to the songs. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the successor of "Nocthule". As long as this goes on, the present album will remain as the best Luxembourgish black metal document - not merely due to the manageable competitors.

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