Funebrarum has been around since 1999 but compared to some of the other long-running US death metal bands their output has been a bit more sporadic. Following 2001’s Beneath the Columns of Abandoned Gods, it would take another eight years with a few smaller releases in between before The Sleep of Morbid Dreams was unleashed. That album came at the right time in 2009, grabbing a sizeable chunk of death metal listeners due to its cavernous sound and riffs that blurred the lines between US, Swedish, and Finnish influences. In the subsequent years Funebrarum would again sporadically release some splits and EP’s, and album number three Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence was slated to come out in 2019. Years passed and the release was delayed multiple times, but it finally dropped at the end of May. With Phil Tougas (Chthe'ilist, First Fragment) now in the band their existing sound has been expanded with more keyboards and some different riff structures, but the foundation that drew people in over a decade ago hasn’t been lost.
Rather than launching right into the cavernous riffing, Funebrarum instead greets listeners with an appropriately moody and haunting intro track “The Arrival”. This intro has a noticeably grandiose flair to it that might have you thinking that the band has suddenly gone into symphonic territory, but once the title track kicks in it becomes clear that they have retained their lumbering and dense foundation. Initially the tempo is at a slow, almost crawling pace where the atmosphere builds methodically and the increased use of keyboards really stands out, but after the first minute and a half things shift towards faster blasting and mid-tempo sections that continue to build up the sound until it reaches its peak. Funebrarum does a great job of maintaining tension through these shifts, and rather than simply going from slow to fast there are a lot of subtle adjustments that make the writing feel more dynamic. With Phil Tougas on lead guitar it’s not surprising that the riffs have a bit more technicality to them, especially when it comes to the solos on songs like “Through the Barren Halls of Grieving Emptiness”, and this expands the group’s sound in ways that make the material stand out more. Admittedly some of the second half doesn’t stand out quite as much for me, with the exception being the powerful closing track “The Whispering Cathedral- Epilogue”, but there’s plenty of riffs that stick out as a whole and have kept me returning for more atmosphere and bludgeoning. The production choices may also prove divisive for some, as things have a bit more clarity and emphasize the drums a bit more than the guitars and bass, peeling back the murkiness of those earlier albums.
Daryl Kahan has one of those low and full growls that is perfect for this type of death metal, and even after twenty-seven years his performance is as intense as it was early on. The tweaks in production also make the growls even more prominent than before, and the way that they reverberate over the rest of the band really sets things over the top. Early on you get a great example of this on the title track, as the way the growls expand over the course of the song results in some powerful peaks where Kahan doesn’t even sound human. Phil Tougas and bassist Winslow contribute some backing vocals throughout Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence, adding some higher shrieks and screams that help to shake things up over the course of the album. Songs like “Ša nagba amāru” and the aforementioned “The Whispering Cathedral- Epilogue” stand out over repeat listens due to how well the vocals enhance what the rest of the band is doing, and this is an area that Funebrarum continues to excel.
This third album has been a long time coming, and while the second half didn’t consistently grab me in the same way as the first there’s a lot to like about what Funebrarum has put together. The expanded role of the keyboards contributes more atmosphere and lets some moodier passages take center stage between the denser attacks, and there is a bit more technicality present in the riffing. I’m not sure if it quite tops The Sleep of Morbid Dreams, but it does come close and showcases this current incarnation of the band is as strong as ever. Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence is available from Pulverised Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg