Very good album. Sort of goes off on tangents at times, but solid over all. Maranatha is superior.

This album is perfect to me! It's absolute insanity from the beggining till' the end. Everything is so unique, the instruments, the vocals(I see Arioch as the best black metal vocalist by far) and it has so many unussual sounds ot black metal which really help to create a great picture and atmosphere. When Black Metal was either going with the plastic sound and keyboards, or just stay primitive without anything new, or it was going to be national socialist/depressive/melodic or any other bullshit, Funeral went their own way and created a music with a sound like never heard before!

Been a while (years) since I was reminded to even revisit this despite previously considering it to be one of the all-time greats of black metal (thanks Rod) and I'm still not quite sure how to articulate the shift in my opinion, though I'll endeavor to do so nevertheless.

As an album, it definitively checks all the boxes I've come to appreciate about black metal: that sinister, vile, and uncomfortable atmosphere. It's one of the least welcoming releases you'll come across, independent of genre, which is the entire point, so in that sense it's extremely successful. And yet it's an actual album of songs. Like with a beginning, middle, and end, and a thematic progression with motifs.

Regardless of its acclaim (or lack thereof) this album will always be remembered fondly by everyone involved in creating it. I think sometimes our personal criticisms tend to overly focus on the artistic merit of a thing based on subjective preferences as opposed to understanding it through the perspective of those responsible for designing it and how their perspective pertains to its delivery. (That still doesn't mean Lulu doesn't deserve a 1, however.)

Each track tells its own story and contributes to the overall sense of repulsion in its own way. Whether a mid-paced number in the form of "Holy Poison" or a straight ripper in "Across the Qliphoth", somehow they manage to perfectly capture that feeling of discomfort with every riff and rasp along the way. It's a 10-level album if in the right mood, but unless you're seeking spiritual oppression in the form of auditory chaos, this is the kind of album that can fall completely flat.

Based on my (updated) personal gauge, I'll score it an 8, as it's deserving of greatness by MS standards, but its dependence on audience mindset detracts from its accessibility, which I realize is an ironic detractor.

Anyway, listen to this if you're into shit like conjuring the devil or murdering babies in your spare time or at least absorbing what should be the soundtrack to those kinds of events.

Took me ages to answer you back Troy haha. I think we agree on what makes this album great but this snip caught my attention.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.07.2021 at 03:16

It's a 10-level album if in the right mood, but unless you're seeking spiritual oppression in the form of auditory chaos, this is the kind of album that can fall completely flat.
Based on my (updated) personal gauge, I'll score it an 8, as it's deserving of greatness by MS standards, but its dependence on audience mindset detracts from its accessibility, which I realize is an ironic detractor.
Anyway, listen to this if you're into shit like conjuring the devil or murdering babies in your spare time or at least absorbing what should be the soundtrack to those kinds of events.

I can't really agree with this statement in general. I can come up with so many albums I gave either 9s or 10s that are NOT every-day listening and extremely mood-dependent. The Maniacal Vale, The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull, Streetcleaner come to mind as personal examples. I love them but I really gotta be in the mood for that. I just don't think that "dependence on audience mindset" is a reason at all to downrate an album because most music NEED a certain mindset, at least most great and challenging art does imo.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 06.08.2021 at 22:51

Took me ages to answer you back Troy haha. I think we agree on what makes this album great but this snip caught my attention.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.07.2021 at 03:16

It's a 10-level album if in the right mood, but unless you're seeking spiritual oppression in the form of auditory chaos, this is the kind of album that can fall completely flat.
Based on my (updated) personal gauge, I'll score it an 8, as it's deserving of greatness by MS standards, but its dependence on audience mindset detracts from its accessibility, which I realize is an ironic detractor.
Anyway, listen to this if you're into shit like conjuring the devil or murdering babies in your spare time or at least absorbing what should be the soundtrack to those kinds of events.

I can't really agree with this statement in general. I can come up with so many albums I gave either 9s or 10s that are NOT every-day listening and extremely mood-dependent. The Maniacal Vale, The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull, Streetcleaner come to mind as personal examples. I love them but I really gotta be in the mood for that. I just don't think that "dependence on audience mindset" is a reason at all to downrate an album because most music NEED a certain mindset, at least most great and challenging art does imo.

I have my own mood-dependent 10s (The Maniacal Vale among them) (because we're fucking posers)) but do you really think this is the kind of generic black metal album you'd recommend as a sort of baseline "getting into" album? I mean our suggestion arsenal might differ in that sense but this album is something I'd keep in the reserves for someone a little more seasoned until they hinted at enjoying those glimpses of "evil" atmosphere and shit.

Much in the same way I wouldn't throw Indian to your average sludge student.