Funeral Home lights its candles.
Formed in Finland in 2009, the project led by Henri Ojala (guitar) brings together Ossi Maalampi (vocals), Jouko Poussu (drums, Lantern), Henri Thitz (guitar), and Juha Korhonen (bass) to bring their first album, Your Funeral, to life with the help of Inverse Records.
The album begins with You Failed My Trust and its aggressive yet oppressive old-school sounds that perfectly match the film noir atmosphere suggested by the cover art, quickly giving way to tortured screams. Although Finnish, the band borrows its roots from its Swedish neighbor with its visceral sounds and fast, chainsaw-like riffs before moving on to a thicker sound on Wall, a slower track that remains incisive in its own way, allowing for interesting Doom/Death influences. The guitars do a masterful job of fueling the angst before moving on to My Kingdom Is Hell, which returns to a catchy fury thanks to a hellish, jerky rhythm that would make anyone’s neck snap the second it hits, and mine is obviously no exception. The same goes for Rotten To The Core, another fairly short track that wastes no time in giving it everything it’s got and making us want to raise our fists, stringing together unifying passages with impressive naturalness, then Depths offers us a fairly massive sound supported by drums in great shape. The choruses are much slower, however, creating an effective contrast that gives rhythm to the composition and reinforces the leads, as does Sacrificial Goat, which offers heady progressions and allows the vocals to diversify a little, as with the more distant screams. The song stays true to its dirty but powerful roots that we love and even treats us to a solo before the motivating Your Funeral’s Death’n’Roll touches, the eponymous track that is almost a little too cheerful for its name, but which allows the threatening sounds to breathe a little and gives the guitars more freedom. We end up moving on to the very groovy Graveyard Blues, which will be one of the band’s best weapons for revitalizing a live performance thanks to its riffs that fit perfectly with the vocals, then the musicians treat themselves to one last acceleration on the long Blood & Sacrifice, the final composition that allows the musicians to deploy their sharp and anguished melodies one last time, as well as their heavy flights of fancy, before gradually leaving us behind.
If you miss the 90s’ Melodic Death Metal, Funeral Home will be your next favorite. The band draws directly from the roots of the style to make Your Funeral a true revival album, while adding its own furious touch that is sure to make you bang your head!
95/100