Funeral Mist – Hekatomb

And so, on a cold June day, the mist came around us again, untimely, like a halo of inescapable misery, and Black Metal became an inescapable certainty, again, in the most inhospitable funeral of our minds.

Arioch is back, without warning, and after nine years of having edited his last Full Length, “Maranatha”, in 2009, his approach of non-Orthodox Swedish extremity becomes flesh and blood again, to delight us with a pure assault to our senses.

Perhaps, most of our readers know about the origin of this demon, but, for those new enthusiasts of this incredible music, I clarify that Arioch is also a member of a well-known Swedish band. I speak of Marduk (who coincidentally will also be releasing an album in a few days), where he takes care of the vocals.

But Funeral Mist is another kind of succubus. Is the personal project of this musician, in which he takes charge of all the instruments, except for the drums that, in this case, are also occupied by a former member of Marduk: Lars, who turns out to be a fundamental piece to analyze the vehemence that this marvel reveals, in its totality.

“Hekatomb” does not take a moment to submerge the listener in an occult sound vortex, which results
in the discovery of an artist perfecting a facet that he had already demonstrated in his last album.

Far has been the excessive chaotic delirium of his cult work “Salvation”, from 2003 (One of the best Swedish black metal albums of all time), and his sound search seems to be more in connection with the sound clarity shown in “Maranatha”. And this characteristic, in other artists, could be understood as a counter, but in the case of Funeral Mist, it works as an incredible tool for the promotion of aggressiveness without precedent.

I think that what always stood out for this project was the audacity and talent of the artist to develop, in his vision, a unique cosmogony that, even being far from the Avant-Garde niche, could advance the genre towards unsuspected territories of originality. This album is not the exception and, in its somewhat scarce 43 minutes, we attend a concatenation of ideas that are fresh, and totally necessary, that undoubtedly raise the genre to a peak rarely reached this year.

Many will notice certain similarities with Marduk in the most aggressive moments. Technically, the fury and direct disposition of Arioch’s riffs and the precision of Lars’ blasts manage to reach a climax of absolute insanity very much in tune with his other band.

Arioch is totally accurate in the guitars, totally abrasive or spitting blasphemies with mastery with his tone so particularly intense.

But the intensity also flows, intermittently, and also yields to sections where original and peculiar ideas can be appreciated. For example, in the song “Naught but Death”, you can hear a kind of gospel choir that, far from being artificial, gives a mysterious aura to the composition, which fits perfectly. There are several moments of this nature, that emerge during the work, and that give surprise and the sensation of being listening to a monument of extreme music, unique in its kind, that fluctuates, intrinsic and magnanimous, like a cursed testament of black nature as the deepest hours of nocturnality.

The world of Black Metal is in luck, because Funeral Mist returned with a revitalizing force, with one of the best and radical albums of this year.

Intense, original, lacerating, like a freshly sharpened blade cutting the flesh of your most morbid desires. 9/10. Sergio

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9/10 Epic Storm
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