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Funeral Doom


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(This is a "ported" topic from the old board written by Ryan Henry not me. However I have added to parts of this.) For those who have never heard funeral doom, but are curious as to what it's all about, here are some general characteristics of the genre. I can tell you that it's not for everyone... - Very slow, heavy music; with few "riffs". Relies more on chording or a few riffs to eventually build into a soundscape. - Snail-slow drums with sparse fills; traditional drums are often replaced with timpani (Skepticism does this frequently) - Almost always employs keyboards or organ. - Vocals are usually guttural, almost to the point of being indecipherable; often sound pitch-shifted; will also employ chanting or spoken verse - Lyrics are as sparse as the music; often not following traditional song structure at all - Songs usually clock in at anywhere between 8 to 14 minutes, and are often intentionally repetitive Very quickly, funeral doom unofficially "began" with the recordings of the Finnish band Thergothon in the early 1990s. The production was horrendous; the songwriting, stellar. From here, a number of bands emerged. Skepticism, another Finnish act, would follow in the vein of Thergothon. Esoteric, out of the UK, would release some very essential work as well. diSEMBOWELMENT would mix the "funeral doom" pace with grindcore and ambient/world music. Funeral doom peaked in the early 2000s, with the release of Shape of Despair's "Angels of Distress" -- often held up as the gold standard of the style. Finland is considered the "nexus" of this style of doom. If you are still interested in exploring this style, here are the best albums to start with: Colosseum - Chapter 1: Delirium** Colosseum - Chapter 2: Numquam** Colosseum - Chapter 3: Parasomnia** Esoteric - Epistemological Despondency** Esoteric - The Pernicious Enigma Esoteric - Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum Evoken - Shades of Night Descending* Evoken - Embrace the Emptiness*,** Evoken - Quietus Evoken - Antithesis of Light Hierophant - The Tome Mistress of the Dead - Weeping Silence of the Dead** Mistress of the Dead - White Roses, White Coffin Mistress of the Dead - I Know Her Face from the Tombstone Panthiest - 1000 Years Pantheist - O Solitude Reclusiam - Reclusiam Stabat Mater - Stabat Mater Shape of Despair - Shades of...** Shape of Despair - Angels of Distress Shape of Despair - Illusion's Play Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet** Skepticism - Lead and Aether Skepticism - Aes Skepticism - Farmakon Thergothon - Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth Thergothon - Stream From the Heavens** Tyranny - Bleak Vistae Tyranny - Tides of Awakening Until Death Overtakes Me - Symphony III - Monolith Wormphlegm - Tomb of the Ancient King Worship - Last Tape Before Doomsday Worship - Dooom *Not considered "pure" funeral doom, but borrows elements from the genre ** RECOMMENDED starting points for the FD initiate

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Re: Funeral Doom Not sure why that would scare you but if you want some really trippy/fucked up stuff check out the following: Bethlehem - Sardonischer Untergang im Zeichen Irreligiöser Darbietung (aka S.U.i.Z.i.D.) Worship/Stabat Mater (split single) Abruptum - Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectére Me

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Re: Funeral Doom nah none of those had the same effect as khanate on me, khanate's music is just so ungodly slow and seemingly random, the vocals are scary as fuck as well, and the songs are 19 minutes long and they don't go anywhere at all, it scared me because i don't understand how anything can be that far removed from any type of music

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Re: Funeral Doom Marco Kehren (from Deinonychus) was the Bethlehem for that album (and a couple of others). He sounds like he's being raped every time he opens his mouth. The music is very strange as well. Great Dark Metal, or at least they were before jumping ship and becoming industrial rock. Stabat Mater is heavy Funeral Doom. The song above is creepy and evil and the sounds of some one being tortured are heard throughout the song. Abruptum is more or less Black Noise.

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Re: Funeral Doom Oh I'm familiar with all their material. Not sure how you're comparing death growls to weak core vocals but in any event he does have a different voice. The deceased vocalist for Iron Monkey had some crazy vocals as well. Although I don't recommend that band, they redefined suck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: Funeral Doom

nah none of those had the same effect as khanate on me' date=' khanate's music is just so ungodly slow and seemingly random, the vocals are scary as fuck as well, and the songs are 19 minutes long and they don't go anywhere at all, it scared me because i don't understand how anything can be that far removed from any type of music[/quote'] I HATE Khanate with a passion. Portal's pretty bad too, but Khanate will always hold a special place in my stomach (it's the main organ that was effected). Their music seems like an appropriate soundtrack to a movie like Hostel or Saw, where pain is the basic plot of the movie. Khanate's material is pure aural torture. Still, though, I will (grudgingly) admit that the line 'I was not worth knowing...' from the song Dead is fairly poignant and a lot of people could relate to it. As for funeral doom, I have also heard good material from Ahab. I did really love the early parts of Evoken's 'Antithesis of Light', but I wish there were more songs with that gloomy atmosphere that were also a tad shorter. I don't mind long songs but some of those riffs just went on forever.
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Re: Funeral Doom

As for funeral doom, I have also heard good material from Ahab. I did really love the early parts of Evoken's 'Antithesis of Light', but I wish there were more songs with that gloomy atmosphere that were also a tad shorter. I don't mind long songs but some of those riffs just went on forever.
All of their albums are pretty much that way. They're meant to go on and on. I really have to be in the mood to listen to them however.
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  • 2 months later...

Re: Funeral Doom

Some of the newer' date=' more melodic acts like Shape of Despair and Ahab are great, but I like the otherworldly feel of Skepticism, Thergothon, Worship, Esoteric, Evoken, Hierophant/Catacombs, a bit better. Funeral doom is awesome, with an atmosphere unlike any other form of music.[/quote'] Skepticism is good but really overrated. I've got all their albums/EP's and I do enjoy them, but there are better bands out there. Thergothon's demo material was a lot better than their album. I'm in the process of trying to find the re-release CD with that stuff on it (really worth hunting down if you're a fan.) Evoken is amazing, but not pure Funeral.
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Re: Funeral Doom I disagree, Skepticism are at the forefront of the genre not just because of being there at the start, but also because of their immense songwriting skills. Stream From the Heavens is totally alien sounding and still unique to this day. Evoken aren't pure funeral, but conjure the same atmosphere with proto funeral techniques ala dISEMBOWELMENT and Thergothon and a heavy as fuck doom/death base.

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Re: Funeral Doom

I disagree' date=' Skepticism are at the forefront of the genre not just because of being there at the start, but also because of their immense songwriting skills. Stream From the Heavens is totally alien sounding and still unique to this day. Evoken aren't pure funeral, but conjure the same atmosphere with proto funeral techniques ala dISEMBOWELMENT and Thergothon and a heavy as fuck doom/death base.[/quote'] Jayke, you disagree because you just love arguing with me. :lol: Skepticism is good but they are overrated. Their last album was possibly their best release IMO. The biggest issue I have with 'Streams from the Heavens' is the vocals. The singer sounds like a burping frog. Musically it's great! diSEMBOLELMENT is in a class of awesome unto themselves. d.USK (their current incarnation) pretty much picked up where they left off. I hope they start putting albums out.
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Re: Funeral Doom No, I argue with you because you're wrong all the time, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. One thing I will give you credit for is that you're dead set in your idiocy, and no matter how compelling the evidence or vicious the argument against you, you cling to that idiocy. Sort of like the catholic church, no matter how much shit they get or followers they lose for raping little boys, they just keep right on doing it.

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Re: Funeral Doom

No' date=' I argue with you because you're wrong all the time, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. One thing I will give you credit for is that you're dead set in your idiocy, and no matter how compelling the evidence or vicious the argument against you, you cling to that idiocy. Sort of like the catholic church, no matter how much shit they get or followers they lose for raping little boys, they just keep right on doing it.[/quote'] No, I know my Metal, but as with all things regarding you; if you don't share my view(s) (or anyone the views of anyone else for that matter) then you're wannabe insults come out of the wood works. Grow up buddy.
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Re: Funeral Doom

No' date=' I argue with you because you're wrong all the time, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. One thing I will give you credit for is that you're dead set in your idiocy, and no matter how compelling the evidence or vicious the argument against you, you cling to that idiocy. Sort of like the catholic church, no matter how much shit they get or followers they lose for raping little boys, they just keep right on doing it.[/quote'] :roll: Wrong all the time? How are people wrong in matters of opinion? You've done nothing to quantify your point of view either, so not only is your argument a moot point, but you've also manged to be rude about it.
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