Old Funeral
The Older Ones
[Hammerheart]
Old Funeral - the Alcatrazz of the Scandinavian scene, in that they're
perpetually thought-of as 'the band that everyone joined, then quit to go
off and be famous in something else'. Their revolving door has once held
Abbath (and Demonaz) of Immortal, Varg of Burzum, and Jorn of Hades
Almighty, all at different times. But odds are you knew that already.
What you want to know is whether or not this album, a compilation of demos
recorded from each of these lineups, is worth getting. Well, here goes:
In General - the core of the band has always been guitarist Tore and drummer/vocalist Padden, and despite the changing lineups, the music was basically the Scandinavian flavor of the old-school death/thrash metal that was popular from 88-91 in Norway. In quite a few ways the music is reminiscent of others in that style, like Merciless and (to a lesser degree) Morbid. Chugging heavy metal-thrash riffs, some more atonal death-metal-like stuff mixed in, and the vocals that rode the line between early death metal and early black metal.
First Lineup - Tore and Padden with Olve (Abbath of Immortal) on bass and vocals. This lineup did a three-song demo in March 1990. These songs (Abduction of Limbs, Annoying Individual, and Skin and Bones) are the most thrash-like, sounding quite a bit like Merciless' first album. The bass playing is far above-average, and the vocals are kind-of high pitched, sounding perhaps a bit more death-like than what Abbath did on the first Immortal album. Great songs.
Second Lineup - Olve quit, Padden started singing, and they got Varg on second guitar and a guy named Thorlak on bass. This lineup did a three-song demo in January 1991 and another one-song demo in May 1991, and is also represented on this album by a live track recorded in September 1991. These songs are okay, but not as good as the first three. The music has gotten a bit more technical and atonal, but the lower tuning, the lower 'cookie-monster' vox of Padden, and overall 'deeper' sound make it sound much less unique - more like standard death metal of the time. And just for the record, if they didn't tell you Varg was in this lineup you'd never know.
Third Lineup - Varg quit and is replaced by Jorn. This lineup did a four-song demo in September 1992. These songs move back a bit more to thrashy metal and not quite so much death metal, with higher-pitched vocals and a bit more melody in the riffs (plus much-improved solo work, I guess courtesy of Jorn). The mix on these is the worst, with the drums and especially the vocals far too low.
So that's the breakdown of the music - as a historical perspective-piece it's well-done, and the first three tracks are especially killer. The packaging is also well-done, with nice historical bio written by Tore included in the insert, plus some photos of various lineups of the band - see who you can identify without the corpsepaint! If you're looking for flashes of the greatness that the 'famous people' would later display you'll be disappointed (except maybe by Olve/Abbath), but for a snapshot of the time and some great old-school death metal this album is recommended.
© 2000 lord vic
In General - the core of the band has always been guitarist Tore and drummer/vocalist Padden, and despite the changing lineups, the music was basically the Scandinavian flavor of the old-school death/thrash metal that was popular from 88-91 in Norway. In quite a few ways the music is reminiscent of others in that style, like Merciless and (to a lesser degree) Morbid. Chugging heavy metal-thrash riffs, some more atonal death-metal-like stuff mixed in, and the vocals that rode the line between early death metal and early black metal.
First Lineup - Tore and Padden with Olve (Abbath of Immortal) on bass and vocals. This lineup did a three-song demo in March 1990. These songs (Abduction of Limbs, Annoying Individual, and Skin and Bones) are the most thrash-like, sounding quite a bit like Merciless' first album. The bass playing is far above-average, and the vocals are kind-of high pitched, sounding perhaps a bit more death-like than what Abbath did on the first Immortal album. Great songs.
Second Lineup - Olve quit, Padden started singing, and they got Varg on second guitar and a guy named Thorlak on bass. This lineup did a three-song demo in January 1991 and another one-song demo in May 1991, and is also represented on this album by a live track recorded in September 1991. These songs are okay, but not as good as the first three. The music has gotten a bit more technical and atonal, but the lower tuning, the lower 'cookie-monster' vox of Padden, and overall 'deeper' sound make it sound much less unique - more like standard death metal of the time. And just for the record, if they didn't tell you Varg was in this lineup you'd never know.
Third Lineup - Varg quit and is replaced by Jorn. This lineup did a four-song demo in September 1992. These songs move back a bit more to thrashy metal and not quite so much death metal, with higher-pitched vocals and a bit more melody in the riffs (plus much-improved solo work, I guess courtesy of Jorn). The mix on these is the worst, with the drums and especially the vocals far too low.
So that's the breakdown of the music - as a historical perspective-piece it's well-done, and the first three tracks are especially killer. The packaging is also well-done, with nice historical bio written by Tore included in the insert, plus some photos of various lineups of the band - see who you can identify without the corpsepaint! If you're looking for flashes of the greatness that the 'famous people' would later display you'll be disappointed (except maybe by Olve/Abbath), but for a snapshot of the time and some great old-school death metal this album is recommended.
© 2000 lord vic