#AlbumReview: Zornheym – The Funeral March
Artist: Zornheym
Title: The Funeral March
Label: Noble Demon Records
Release date: August 21st, 2026
Country: Sweden
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Record
#AlbumReview: Zornheym – The Funeral March via Noble Demon Records by Ioana
It seems that Frederic Chopin’s “Funeral March” never ceases to amaze metalheads, even in the great 2026. Zornheym have, as both the introduction and the song title would indicate, offered their own rendition of this well-known piece of classical music, in the form of one of their trademark narrative epics, part of their third studio album, Descending Into Madness, which will be released on October 2nd, 2026. Conceptually, the song concerns the death of Elise, the wife of the main character in the band’s storyline, that being Dr. Bettleheim (for those who’ve been keeping up for the band, you may remember him as the man who decided that keeping several criminally insane convicts sleep deprived was a good idea), and how this event, as main songwriter, Tomas “Zorn” Nilsson put it, solidified his descent into insanity…. Fun!
Musically, the song stays fairly close to Chopin’s original melody, while adding, beyond the typical metal instrumentation, a multilayered chorus and yet another instance of frontman Bendler’s impressively versatile vocal performance, that features both harsh vocals from all parts of the spectrum and a fair share of epic clean singing in the vein of classic heavy metal/epic doom metal styles. The song uses recurring choir patterns and lines in order to create a sense of grandeur, which contrasts the very personal, subjective perspective depicted in the lyrics of the main vocal line. This creates a fascinating contrast which points towards the way in which one man’s drama will come to influence the lives of many more. But I can’t tell for sure. The full album isn’t out yet. My only “critique”, if it can even be called that, is that at times the song felt just a tiny bit too… bombastic, considering the subject matter, but again, that depends a lot on its placement in the album.
Now, even though I’m more of a “Deus Rex” person, I found “The Funeral March” to be a very compelling piece of music, especially due to its significance in the conceptual storyline. But when it comes to Zornheym, I’d argue it’s hard to judge the songs one by one, since they’re all part of a larger narrative, so, by this point, my expectations and anticipation are through the roof… 9/10
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9/10 Epic Storm
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