ALBUM REVIEW: Achatius – Funereal Presence

Five years is a long time to go between records, especially when what listeners were left with is arguably the bands best material up until that point. New York’s FUNEREAL PRESENCE released the one-man acts debut album, The Archer Takes Aim, all the way back in 2014. The album harked back to the glory days of black metal, whilst adding a modern twist to the tried and tested formula of raw black metal, resulting in a truly impressive record. Now, five whole years after it’s release, the follow up has finally arrived. With Achatius, FUNEREAL PRESENCE pick up where The Archer Takes Aim left off, taking a deep appreciation for classic black metal and adding plenty of bleak and eerie flourishes to the proceedings.

FUNEREAL PRESENCE open the album with Wherein Achatius Is Awakened And Called Upon, which creeps into life with a haunting violin motif that adds a distinctly folk flavour to this song’s opening moments, quickly giving way to a great, disjointed piece of music on classical guitar which sounds brilliant. If you are expecting some kind of folk-orientated offering, however, you should temper your expectations. Almost as soon as this part of the song dies down, FUNEREAL PRESENCE launch headlong into a far more palpable, caustic brand of black metal that definitely takes it’s cues from the early Scandinavian sound. It’s got a production value so raw that it’ll likely strike the unwary down with food poisoning, and it works immensely for this kind of music. The drums set a steady, powerful metre, which acts as an excellent backdrop to a full, bubbling bass hook and some melody tinged, dancing guitars, which sees strong rhythms clash with energetic, catchy leads. It occasionally dips into a much more chaotic style, before reverting to a more mid-tempo affair. All of this music is complemented by some minimalist, but effective, keyboards, which shroud the song with a dense and heady atmosphere that only adds to the overall feel of this song. Wherein Achatius Is Awakened And Called Upon is a great way to open the album, and shows the listener what to expect from Achatius.

Following, Wherein A Messenger Of The Devil Appears is another amazing song that really ups the ante when it comes to musicianship, in particular when it comes to the guitars. The initial lead guitar riff has a sublime, dissonant and borderline progressive feel, which remains for the first minute or so as the rest of the music gradually descends into a visceral cacophony, before the song proper finally begins. It’s cut from the same cloth as the first track, with razor sharp, buzzing guitars, thunderous bass and shrill, hellish shrieks all providing a very acerbic tone that makes it sound all the more aggressive and frenetic. All of this is anchored by some impressive, authoritative drumming, which cuts through the mix and helps set a good pace, shifting from restrained sections through to rabid, chaotic ones. As we observed with Achatius‘ opener, there are a few hints at progression within the music, and this song is certainly no different. There’s a few moments where FUNEREAL PRESENCE utilise far cleaner vocals, and the sudden, juddering jump between time changes does a great job of adding an unpredictable edge to the music. There’s also a few acoustic guitar pieces, which at times seem vaguely reminiscent of the soundtrack for a Spaghetti Western, without this aspect of the sound every fully taking over. Further, the prominent use of a tolling church bell really injects a lot of ambience into the mix, making it a thoroughly engrossing track from start to finish.

Wherein Seven Celestial Beasts Are Revealed To Him kicks off with some more well used, sublime acoustic guitar passages, before diving into something wholly more jarring, demented and vicious. In among lead guitars that showcase a high level of virtuosity, there’s plenty of razor sharp, off kilter moments which give this song a great, quirky feel that it’s hard not to get drawn in by. There’s also a few cleaner guitar tones and noticeably more reserved parts in here, but they only serve to accentuate the overarching energy that the rest of the song is built around. Throughout, FUNEREAL PRESENCE bring in a solid, hard rock swagger that is reminiscent of TAAKE, without straying into the realm of parody or imitation. It certainly doesn’t do the song any harm, making it sound far more robust and beefy in comparison with the first two songs. Wherein Seven Celestial Beasts Are Revealed To Him is a powerful and grandiose track that sets the listener up nicely for the end of Achatius.

FUNEREAL PRESENCE close Achatius with Wherein Achatius Is Flogged To The Hills Of Violation, a monolithic track even by the standards of this album, where no single song falls under ten minutes in length. Beginning on a thick, dirge-like riff, which gives it a much more doom-laden feel, and it doesn’t really pick up the pace much for the first couple of minutes, giving the impression that it’s going to be a much bleaker, down paced affair, until an intricate, descending drum fill kicks in and signals a headlong dive into more frenzied and cacophonous motifs. There’s plenty of grating, jarring moments thrown into this song, which contrast perfectly with the soaring lead guitar melodies that drive this song for almost all of its thirteen minute run time. This is a whirlwind of fierce guitar work, precise, tight drums and vocals that are drenched in piss and vinegar, adding a sharp, feral edge to the music. Unlike the opening songs, FUNEREAL PRESENCE offer a lot more musical variety here, although many of the same tropes and go to elements do manage to make their way into the song at some point. Wherein Achatius Is Flogged To The Hills Of Violation is definitely carried by it’s amazing lead guitar melodies, which dance from one lick or hook to another without seeming to run out of ideas or having to repeat itself to help pad out the song. It’s a great change of pace that brings Achatius to a close on an incredibly high note, and it’s a shame that this side of FUNEREAL PRESENCE didn’t surface until this point on the record.

Achatius is a solid record all the way through, blending together a classic black metal style and production with a subtle, intriguing progressive bent. There are points on Achatius where it does feel like this album, as far as song-writing goes, is built upon a formula, with acoustic guitars, church bells and even the use of a cow bell making several appearances throughout each of the songs. If the music weren’t so good, this could have proved to be the albums downfall, but luckily, the black metal, and the various elements that are added to beef up the sound, are so good and the energy is so contagious, that it’s really hard to criticise the album for sticking to what it does best. FUENREAL PRESENCE have crafted a fantastic piece of music, especially if you enjoy hard rock inflected Scandinavian black metal in the same vein as TAAKE or HORNA, and with any luck it won’t be another five years until a third record sees the light of day.

Rating: 8/10

Achatius is out now via Sepulchral Voice Records. 

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