Self-described "Epic Doom Metal" band Funeral Circle have arrived with their self-titled debut album. In a way, their name is very telling by the recognizable funeral doom the band embodies. It's also telling that they are a young band and that it's their first record. Why do I say this? Because their influences are very apparent on this record.
I don't mean to condemn them for this of course. Most bands start out imitating their favorites, and from a couple listens here, the band certainly has good taste: Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Type O Negative, and though they don't mention it on their Bandcamp page, the record simply screams My Dying Bride. Again, there's nothing wrong with this, but there are things about My Dying Bride that made them My Dying Bride. From the promising start they've laid out here, Funeral Circle just needs to find a distinguishing sound that makes the listener say, "Oh sweet! This is Funeral Circle!"
But in case any band members or their biggest fans are reading these, I should say some nice things about the record. On songs like "Corpus of Dark Sorcery" and "The Channel of God", the band combines many of the elements that make heavy metal like this so good: heavy riffs, a bit of drama and epic, soaring vocals. Some of the songs could have been shortened and made easier to follow, making room for more song ideas. But perhaps this would have taken away from what the band was going for: EPIC!
Let's see what these boys do for the follow-up.
7/10
Favorite Songs: "Corpus of Dark Sorcery", "The Channel of God", "Black Colossus"
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When he's not infuriating people with his album reviews, Drew Zalucky is busy writing for his political website, For the Sake of Argument
