ALBUM REVIEW: Funeral Mist – Hekatomb

This review is a project I am actually new to despite being a long term fan of Mortuus in Marduk, but without any more delay here are my thoughts on the new Funeral Mist album.

1. In Nomine Domini opens the album with some greatly terrifying sampling. The bass at the start sounds killer and the sliding guitar adds a creepy touch. The blasting Black Metal madness is like Marduk but also in its own way great and completely separate. Mortuus is clearly a very talented songwriting as well as lyricist.
2. Naught but Death continues the assault with more great riffs, tormented vocals and blasting drums. The marching rhythms and and simple but effective instrumentation sounds excellent. The song has a really disturbing feel to it and creates a wonderfully dark atmosphere. The ending part of the song has a really nice feeling to it which was chilling to listen to.
3. Shedding Skin blasts us straight into more bombastic madness. The riffs sound awesome and the drums are extremely fast which sounds cool. The vocals are so aggressive and resemble those used within Marduk very well. A really great piece of Black Metal insanity.
4. Cockatrice gives us yet more unrelenting force and a very frenzied, fast aural attack. The disregard for melody is made up for with its punchy songwriting and haunting vocals. The sheer speed alone of this song makes it stand out as pure evil madness. The keyboards add some ambience without being too “pretty” or over the top. Great work.
5. Metamorphosis rips more tremolo picked riffs out, although this time with a slightly slower tempo, giving the album a little more variation, but still sticking to formula. I love Mortuus’ vocals on this track especially, they sound incredibly demonic and possessed.
6. Within the Without speeds up once again and really does not withhold and aggression back from the Black Metal noise attack. The guitar work is hectic and the drums insane. Another great piece of music. The chimes adding a really cool touch to the track for sure.
7. Hosanna has more of a cascading feel to it, but still with unrelenting force behind all instruments, staying in keeping with the albums full throttle approach. The vocals clearly have a lot of passion and catharsis going into them. Some parts almost have a more melancholic feel but they are still not in any way laid back or compromising. (EDIT): I have listened to this album and particularly this song many times since reviewing this due to now owning the CD. The ending section of the song has such beautiful riffs which work with the pounding drums and scolding vocals and create such a feeling of self-strength and rebirth for me and honestly give me chills, although being incredibly simple and nothing overly unique there is such an integral power in this piece and I felt the need to add that to the review.
8. Pallor Mortis wraps things up with some estranged drums and more atmospheric riffs going for a slower and more bleak approach. The song kicks back into a more fast paced attack once more. The use of a childs samples in (I believe) Portuguese sounds really cool over the blackened chaos.

This album is a great one for Marduk and orthodox Black Metal fans and may not be extremely original but it is well executed which I cannot fault and was a great, aggressive and heavy listen. -9/10