Funeral For A Friend - Welcome Home Armageddon (Album Review)
Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Written by Heather McDaid
Releasing their EP ‘The Young and Defenceless’ at the tail end of 2010 was a chance for Funeral for a Friend to show the fans where they were currently heading musically. Now, their latest release ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ is the chance to fully showcase the rejuvenated Welsh rockers and catapult them back on top form.
The opening 44 seconds – ‘The Side of Brightness’ – acoustically eases you into a false sense of calm before dropping straight into ‘Old Hymns’; an abundance of shredding and aggression. Too much too soon? Not in the slightest. Their intent is clear: half-assed jobs won’t do.
Violent verses and catchy choruses are slammed together to create quality tracks including ‘Front Row Seats To The End Of The World’ and ‘Spinning Over the Island’. It’s almost nostalgic as you listen to the words ‘what’s mine is yours and yours is mine’ resound in the latter; it’s like a return to the roots of Funeral for a Friend’s sound.
If you then requested a poppy song with their twist, ‘Sixteen’ would be the result – packed with melodies and slick, simple guitars and lacking the aggression of other tracks.
‘Owls (Are Watching)’ calms your listening for a moment before a sheer explosion to their regular peak. ‘Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don’t’ is a 3 and a half minute assault of excessive guitars and raw energy.
Title-track ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ makes a glorious return to melodic vocals as a last rendezvous, perfectly teaming the aggressive and acoustic sounds to take final punch before soothingly fading out into silence.
At risk of sounding like they’re trying too hard, Funeral for a Friend have become fearless and are well and truly in their prime.
'Armageddon’ should appeal to fans of all ‘eras’ by capturing some of their defining sounds and still creating something new. Their best album yet? It’s definitely a strong contender. It just depends whether you can loosen your clutch of ‘Casually Dressed in Deep Conversation’ long enough to give this the fair chance it deserves.
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If you then requested a poppy song with their twist, ‘Sixteen’ would be the result – packed with melodies and slick, simple guitars and lacking the aggression of other tracks. 
