Since FUNERARIUM's formation in 2018, the two years separating the excellent "Ancient Astronauts" from "Vampirizare Eterna" represent the longest period of silence ever. Indeed, until then, Kardec had been known for releasing several albums a year, so why such a silence? Perhaps it was the time needed to move beyond the previous extraterrestrial concept and fully immerse themselves in this new vampiric incarnation, the band being in a perpetual state of reinvention of its imagery and musical themes. Moreover, it's not simply a matter of stripping away the old aesthetic; the musicians are completely rethinking the music they play to perfectly align it with the subject matter. Therefore, while the French band's black metal remains firmly rooted in the atmospheric tradition, they have moved from the coldness of Darkspace to warmer hues reminiscent of Cradle of Filth, Ancill, and Siebenburg—a more poetic, more symphonic style, imbued with the scents of blood and decadence.
In this sense, keyboards have never played such a prominent role, both in the interludes ("Without Light") and in the compositions themselves, this meticulous attention to detail being paramount in the album's overall sense of grandeur. Because yes, that's precisely what emerges today from FUNERARIUM's tracks, with their well-known inspirations ("Reign of Bathory"), which the now-duo translates in a colorful way, closer to Coppola's "Dracula" or "Interview with the Vampire" than Murnau's "Nosferatu," more "carriage, bloodbath of virgins, and candles" than "coffin, icy crypt, and rats"—an approach that completely transports me, as I had almost forgotten how to listen to this refined kind of horror black metal.
Yet, none of these elements diminishes the French band's ferocity. The harsh, dry guitars remain a strong marker, instruments used far more to create constant tension than to impress the listener with meaningful riffs. The music is conceived primarily as a reddish mist, the nine-part structure seeming more a matter of convention than necessity. Indeed, the nearly forty-five minutes unfold like a single, theatrical piece, a work whose sequencing proves almost unnecessary given its homogeneity and its embodiment of a vision I thought had been lost since the dawn of the 2000s ("Night Theater").
With "Vampirizare Eterna," the sixteenth album from a band barely seven years old, FUNERARIUM continues its exploration of all the intricacies of atmospheric and symphonic black metal, with the passion and rigor of researchers, an almost insolent ease, and a rare sense of climax in a perfect blend of dandyism and sadism. A complete success, culminating in the instrumental grandiloquence of the eponymous track, which seems to already close the door on vampirism in order to better project itself towards a new sonic exploration.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=5WSiCmwdGH0&t=349s
