Having spent many a year scouring the world for undiscovered talents within the black metal scene, I have developed a certain vision in regards to the big nations that partake within this isolated society. Each individual nation tends to have its own niche whereby the vast majority of bands within that particular scene adhere to. For example, I associate France with the sub-genre raw black metal and various ambient spin-offs, such as dark ambient due to the rise in the Les Légions Noires during the early to mid 1990’s underground scene. With raw black metal being one of my least favoured sub-genres of the main genre, I find myself resorting to the French scene less and less these days as my personality has mellowed out with age. Strangely enough, I have very few problems finding a way through the bleak, wintry soundscapes of bands like Darkspace, but when it comes to this by-the-numbers style of raw black metal, I find myself unmoved by it and cannot help but segregate myself from the entire sub-genre simply through hatred by association. ‘Dis Pater’ was a record that came highly recommended to me and it doesn’t disappoint at any stage. Thankfully, I allowed myself time to grow into Funeraille’s austere and ambitious developments.
I’ve found some terrible bands in this marred sub-genre who believe chaos reigns supreme and that experimentation is the last thing any black metal musician should resort to. However, on the odd occasion, an unstoppable force opens up a world to me that I was previously unaware of. In this instance, that unstoppable force is the one man entity that is Funeraille, a band solely operated by the magical mind of Lyshd Mordrak. Although the similarities are fairly limited, I find myself likening Funeraille’s debut, ‘Dis Pater’, to the early works of Blut Aus Nord, a fellow French band who deviate from the norm with every step they take. Barely any comparison can be made as to how both bands actually sound, but they both carry a raw edge over in the atmosphere through sheer distorted aggression but twist the end result by factoring in elements that were shocking at the time that I had discovered them. For example, Funeraille unleash some awe inspiring melodies despite the primitive distorted style and uncompromising vocals and, as well as that, Lyshd Mordrak provides a stark contrast to this sound by implementing keyboards into the controlled chaos. These keyboards in no way add an overblown symphonic feel to the record and remain a subtle force behind the distorted guitars.
All the credit goes directly to Lyshd Mordrak. His song writing abilities are superb and perhaps largely overlooked when one considers the role of areas like the subtle melodies and the special inclusion of the startling keyboards which stir some unfamiliar feelings from within me when it comes to a seemingly typical brand of raw French black metal. Although I wouldn’t necessarily want to tarnish Funeraille’s debut with the same brush as many mediocre raw bands, there is definitely a repetitious raw quality to ‘Dis Pater’ that isn’t exactly well hidden, or subtle. In fact, Lyshd Mordrak does very little to hide the ugly façade of ‘Dis Pater’ by unleashing its misery and downright scary primitive values on us from the very first moment. However, slowly and surely, Lyshd Mordrak draws the keyboards into the fray and the guitars suddenly up the stakes when it comes to an increased presence of sweeping melodies. Songs like ‘Une Nouvelle Ere Morbide s'Annonce’ are perfect examples of Funeraille’s ability to fuse that raw quality, which is given a human voice by the vocals of the inspired Lyshd Mordrak, with brilliant melodies supplied by the quintessential guitars and a medieval sounding atmosphere by the keyboards, which add majesty and an epic feeling to the final product. This feeling is also boosted by the artwork, which has a dark medieval quality to it.
The audacious move to integrate clean keyboards into this bleak sounding record is inspired and when coupled with the fact that Lyshd Mordrak isn’t afraid to use often repetitive, but audible bass as a backdrop to the guitars, as shown fittingly on songs like ‘Dis Pater, Dieu des Morts’, instantly makes this record ten times more innovative than any other in its class. Oddly, though it doesn’t happen all that often, Lyshd Mordrak even alters his vocal portrayal, particularly on songs like ‘En Guerre Contre la Peste Chrétienne’ where his voice changes from a blood curdling rasp to a distinctive gargled growl that wouldn’t be out of place on your average death metal record. Evidently, he has no problem altering his voice to suit certain mood swings, but I do feel as if there was very little reason to alter the projection and, instead, he should have kept the vocals on a constant line as opposed to deviating from the destination. ‘Lemurs’ is also a bit of an oddity in the grand scheme of things since it is an all instrumental affair with a very Scottish feel to it, reminding me of solitary figure playing the bagpipes atop of a mountain overlooking the vast and cold Highlands. Songs like this, although beautiful, add little to the rest of the record. Aside from these minor blips, Funeraille’s debut is a welcomed addition to the black metal movement and here’s hoping it doesn’t take another period of eleven years to serve up another full-length.
I’ve found some terrible bands in this marred sub-genre who believe chaos reigns supreme and that experimentation is the last thing any black metal musician should resort to. However, on the odd occasion, an unstoppable force opens up a world to me that I was previously unaware of. In this instance, that unstoppable force is the one man entity that is Funeraille, a band solely operated by the magical mind of Lyshd Mordrak. Although the similarities are fairly limited, I find myself likening Funeraille’s debut, ‘Dis Pater’, to the early works of Blut Aus Nord, a fellow French band who deviate from the norm with every step they take. Barely any comparison can be made as to how both bands actually sound, but they both carry a raw edge over in the atmosphere through sheer distorted aggression but twist the end result by factoring in elements that were shocking at the time that I had discovered them. For example, Funeraille unleash some awe inspiring melodies despite the primitive distorted style and uncompromising vocals and, as well as that, Lyshd Mordrak provides a stark contrast to this sound by implementing keyboards into the controlled chaos. These keyboards in no way add an overblown symphonic feel to the record and remain a subtle force behind the distorted guitars.
All the credit goes directly to Lyshd Mordrak. His song writing abilities are superb and perhaps largely overlooked when one considers the role of areas like the subtle melodies and the special inclusion of the startling keyboards which stir some unfamiliar feelings from within me when it comes to a seemingly typical brand of raw French black metal. Although I wouldn’t necessarily want to tarnish Funeraille’s debut with the same brush as many mediocre raw bands, there is definitely a repetitious raw quality to ‘Dis Pater’ that isn’t exactly well hidden, or subtle. In fact, Lyshd Mordrak does very little to hide the ugly façade of ‘Dis Pater’ by unleashing its misery and downright scary primitive values on us from the very first moment. However, slowly and surely, Lyshd Mordrak draws the keyboards into the fray and the guitars suddenly up the stakes when it comes to an increased presence of sweeping melodies. Songs like ‘Une Nouvelle Ere Morbide s'Annonce’ are perfect examples of Funeraille’s ability to fuse that raw quality, which is given a human voice by the vocals of the inspired Lyshd Mordrak, with brilliant melodies supplied by the quintessential guitars and a medieval sounding atmosphere by the keyboards, which add majesty and an epic feeling to the final product. This feeling is also boosted by the artwork, which has a dark medieval quality to it.
The audacious move to integrate clean keyboards into this bleak sounding record is inspired and when coupled with the fact that Lyshd Mordrak isn’t afraid to use often repetitive, but audible bass as a backdrop to the guitars, as shown fittingly on songs like ‘Dis Pater, Dieu des Morts’, instantly makes this record ten times more innovative than any other in its class. Oddly, though it doesn’t happen all that often, Lyshd Mordrak even alters his vocal portrayal, particularly on songs like ‘En Guerre Contre la Peste Chrétienne’ where his voice changes from a blood curdling rasp to a distinctive gargled growl that wouldn’t be out of place on your average death metal record. Evidently, he has no problem altering his voice to suit certain mood swings, but I do feel as if there was very little reason to alter the projection and, instead, he should have kept the vocals on a constant line as opposed to deviating from the destination. ‘Lemurs’ is also a bit of an oddity in the grand scheme of things since it is an all instrumental affair with a very Scottish feel to it, reminding me of solitary figure playing the bagpipes atop of a mountain overlooking the vast and cold Highlands. Songs like this, although beautiful, add little to the rest of the record. Aside from these minor blips, Funeraille’s debut is a welcomed addition to the black metal movement and here’s hoping it doesn’t take another period of eleven years to serve up another full-length.
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