Doom metal: two words that soothe the savage beast. Slow, crushing riffs intertwining with haunting vocal melodies and an equally plodding rhythm section to infiltrate your brain matter when you need escape, release, a way to vent safely from the events of the day. Funeral Circle from Vancouver, Canada are another band who perform in this beloved genre, coming from the roots of the movement with a Sabbath meets Candlemass slant on this self-titled, 7 song album.
Mythology, history, folk tales, and literature inspire the word themes within “Scion of Infinity”, “Corpus of Dark Sorcery” and “The Charnel God”. Adrian M. has an exotic warble to his booming low/ mid-range vocals, stirring souls with depth and morose emotions. The shortest track at 2:48 “Tempus Edax Rerum” features acoustic guitars with an early Yes twinge – which segues nicely into the aforementioned “The Charnel God” that at 9:44 features some classical Solitude Aeturnus-ish electric harmonies and Phil.F. striking the drums at a measured snail’s pace to bring the riff home with ominous chills and thrills.
Patience remains the key when taking in “Funeral Circle”- they rarely rev things up beyond a mid-tempo chugging groove, but the soloing from Pilgrim has a serious melodic/ classic heavy metal quality that should get the audiences clapping and cheering along. Will most conventional listeners be blown away by the songs here? Probably not- but those who dig deep into the scene I believe will find plenty to smile about after each and every listen.
Capped off with vibrant cover art and equally down to earth production values, this could be a sleeper hit for many who want a classic doom metal band without a hint of stoner rock in their sound.
Matt Coe, HMS
msc2471@comcast.net
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