Reviews
Funebrarum / Interment: Conjuration of the sepulchral (split)
12/07/11 || Daemonomania
At this year’s Maryland Deathfest we got pretty fucked up. Pretty fucked up indeed. As a result I may have missed more bands than I saw, and even those I did witness only emerge from a haze of intoxication if they were really fucken good. One of those bands we failed to even hear, because we got there too late (since we were busy getting destroyed) was Funebrarum. I’d heard some good things about ‘em – a mix of classic Swedeath with Evoken vibes. To atone for our tardiness I stumbled between the merch tents mumbling drunkenly about the band’s CD’s. This split was the closest I could find. Now you have the backstory. Hold on to your corset for the actual review. Prepare!
We’ve got a newfangled lover of that early 90’s sound infused with a bit of funeral doom (yep, several Evoken members are in the ranks) vs. a real-deal old school practitioner of the black arts of yore who released a few demos then disappeared ‘til today. Now the competitors in the battle for Daemo’s affection have been established. Let’s find out who wins. Fight!
Result: I dig Funebrarum’s style a bit more as it harkens back to the Grave method of doing things, whereas Internmint clearly takes their cues from Entombed and Dismember. Shit, Fun-bra even cover “Into the grave”. Of course it ain’t as good as the original, but is none too shabby nevertheless. Pretty silly to record two covers and an intro when you’ve only got five tracks to work with, but their version of “Caught in a vortex” justifies the choice. This is EXACTLY what I wanted. Creepy New Jersey keyboards interspersed with classic riffery and horrific slooooowness. The original track “Kingdom…” is solid too, giving me reason to hunt down and buy their recent full-length. Huzzah!
Interment posses a more speedy, punk/death ‘n roll influence. They do it well, but at times I can’t help but think I’d rather be listening to the Crawl EP. Just not enough hooks to go ‘round, but “Black hollow black” and “A decent hell” (?) did catch my ear. If it took these dudes 13 years to come up with so-so material, the future does not look bright for ‘em though. Sorry!
There you have it. Funebrarum wins the split but needs to come up with a bit more more tuneage, which it looks like they have done. Interment might need another few years of hiatus before unleashing something wolverine-y upon mankind. And my brain vs. the MDF is a no-contest, landslide victory for metal. Hooray!
- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: Conqueror of Thorns
- Website: Funebrarum MySpace & Interment MySpace
- Bands
- Funebrarum
- Interment
- Tracklist
- 01. Funebrarum – Intro – Conjuration of the Sepulchral
- 02. Funebrarum – Kingdom of Suffering Souls
- 03. Funebrarum – Caught in a Vortex (Abhorrence cover)
- 04. Funebrarum – Into the Grave (Grave cover)
- 05. Funebrarum – Grave Reaper
- 06. Interment – Infernal Damnation
- 07. Interment – Black Hollow Black
- 08. Interment – A Descent Hell
- 09. Interment – Breeding Spawn
- 10. Interment – Outro – The Soul Collector
