ALBUM REVIEW: Funerary – Starless Aeon
WORDS: Laura McCarthy
The time has come, when the festivals are soon to be over, the days are getting darker and the weather bleaker. The blissful break from reality that is the summer is fading into the distance, and if we’re all being fair to ourselves, the seasonal blues are starting to creep in. That said, for days when you really just want to exercise some catharsis through the medium of Doom Metal, the latest release from FUNERARY, Starless Aeon is more than enough to let you wallow in your torments.
Taking influence from such bands as CORRUPTED, the soundscape and weight of the opening track Coerced Creation is enough to have you pinned in a cocoon of despair. It is obvious why there has been a positive reception to this band with those so inclined towards the melancholy.
The band, originally from Arizona, impressively make very little melody into something completely captivating, much akin to bands such as MOURNFUL CONGREGATION and ESOTERIC. It is in fact more the tone and the ambiance of the album, the combined feeling
Blindingly cold and desolate, both Atonement and Beneath the Black Veil are two songs that work well together back to back, being immeasurably chilling and woefully indulgent. That is an odd thing to write about Doom Metal, but FUNERARY have created something that is so creatively eerie, that when you mood is desolate, this is surely the kind of expansive music you would want to listen to.
Indeed, the outlook of this album is both intense and bleak. This kind of metal is very niche, with a deeply heavy, atmospheric feel and a collectively tormented sound throughout, finishing with Depressor, which is yet another immensely depressing, weighty track. It’s a very high quality mix, with the vocals/throat are varied in their intensity to compliment the mood of the instrumentals. That is what is impressive about FUNERARY that for an album with so little melodic aspects, each listen is still able to produce a response from the listener. This response, obviously, may be a little to visceral for some; Doom Metal is rarely a popular genre for the masses. However, for those who are curious, Starless Aeon is an album that for sure should be one to pick up if you wish to delve into something that makes you want to explore the grimmer side of your personality.
As a debut album Starless Aeon is atmospheric, deep and soul crushingly emotive. There is a sense of beauty and painful sorrow that this ambient music produces. The morbid, heavy tone of FUNERARY makes them something juxtaposed in their freshness, something imaginative and desperate that few take the time to explore. This album is the soundtrack to your worst nightmares, and leaves the hairs on the back of your neck and a cold sweat for all the right (or perhaps all the wrong) reasons.
Rating: 7/10
Starless Aeon is available now via Midnite Collective
