It’s the weekend! What better way to get it started than with the latest installment of “Funeral Doom Friday”. This weekly column looks to shed some light onto some of the darkest, most depressing, and discordant metal out there. Funeral Doom stems from the deepest depths of Death-Doom and Dirge music. Each week, the goal is to highlight some of the newest music or rediscover classic works from some of the earliest bands and originators such as Australia’s Mournful Congregation, United States’s Evoken, UK’s Esoteric and the Finnish Thergothon. Feel free to share your opinions and suggestions in the comments!
This week, another Funeral Doom project rises from the dead. The Australian Charting the Depths of Despair has been reborn 13 years after its initial exit. Dan Garcia (The Slow Death) formed the solo project back in 2002 and recorded a single demo under the moniker, only to abandon it the following year. More than a decade had passed. Garcia began to record music with other bands. In addition to The Slow Death, Dan joined the death metal project, Horrisonous, and the death doom band, Illimitable Dolor. One could posit that his involvement in new bands sparked his interest to return to his once-lost Funeral Doom band. In the same year that Dan joined Horrisonous and Illimitable Dolor, new music from Charting the Depths of Despair emerged.
Last spring, a new demo appeared on Bandcamp. A few months after, a proper full-length album also surfaced. This productive 2016 has spilled over into the present year. Yesterday, Garcia released a new EP to the world called Glimpses Into the Forgotten Remnants of a Broken Soul. The two-song effort is largely instrumental, yet shows off a strong, funerary might. Recently, the features in this column have shown off experiments on funeral doom. Bands have fused it with black metal or added atypical instruments. Yet, Dan Garcia's work offers a palate cleanser of sorts.
Instrumentally, he follows a classical model akin to Mournful Congregation. Long, towering guitar notes carry much of the music. The drums work to keep a well-metered pace. Vocally, Garcia leans more towards disEMBOWELMENT. His use of early style is refreshing in a way. Overall, these two new songs are a reminder of where funeral doom comes from. While the genre continues to grow, it is nice to occasionally get a small memento of where it has come from. With a 22-minute runtime, it is not a too much of a time investment. Each song is broken up into roughly 11 minutes. Glimpses is an easy yet fulfilling listen.
For those who are interested, Charting the Depths of Despair can be found on Facebook and on Bandcamp.
