Funeral For A Friend - Chapter And Verse (Album Review)
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Written by Alec Chillingworth
A decade ago, for every My Chemical Romance, there were scores upon scores of Funeral For A Friends; bands who acquired massive followings due to the uncompromising nature of their music before slipping into the mainstream. The only problem being that their sonic wanderings eventually lost the support of radio-listening robots.
'Chapter And Verse' finds the band building on the raw foundations of 2013's 'Conduit' and this is, without question, their most vital effort since 'Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation'.
Clocking in at just over half an hour, the 11 songs on display are aesthetically punk as fuck – it's Funeral For A Friend plugging in and smacking the naysayers about a bit.
Matt Davies-Kreye keeps his soaring melodies in check, with opener Stand By Me For The Millionth Time showcasing his ability to mix clean vocals with painstaking screams without sounding cheesy and formulaic.
Pencil Pusher's humongous gang vocal puts the Misfits to shame and simply begs to be played live, while the punishing, post-hardcore roots of Modern Excuse Of A Man assault the listener, reminding us how bloody brutal this band can be when they fancy it.
Aside from the acoustic breeze of Brother – it's literally two minutes – 'Chapter And Verse' is an upbeat, celebratory affair boasting equal parts melodies and monstrosities.
Serving as drummer Pat Lundy's swansong – he's since jumped ship and joined Modestep – it has his trademark punchiness blasted all the way through it. After All These Years... Like A Lightbulb Going Off In My Head, Modern Excuse Of A Man and Donny are all ragers that tie perfectly to his hyperactive tub-thumping. Many fans yearn for Ryan Richards' crazy cymbal splashes and the style of yore, but Lundy's final fling is a commendable effort nonetheless.
This is not Funeral For A Friend reinventing themselves. Sure, You Should Be Ashamed Of Yourself boasts a treacle-thick NOLA riff and the utterly unbeatable line, 'Born with a dick, it doesn’t mean that I'm a misogynist', but ultimately 'Chapter And Verse' has the band reaffirming their core values and letting fans know that everything's alright. If you crave innovation and genre-bending, look elsewhere – this is Funeral For A Friend, and they need no bells nor whistles to prove how brilliant they are.
Funeral For A Friend Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Thu January 22 2015 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
Fri January 23 2015 - SOUTHAMPTON 1865
Fri March 06 2015 - NORWICH Waterfront
Sat March 07 2015 - SOUTHEND Chinnerys, Southend
Sun March 08 2015 - CAMBRIDGE Portland Arms
Thu March 12 2015 - FALMOUTH Pavillions
Fri March 13 2015 - BOURNEMOUTH Sound Circus
Sat March 14 2015 - EXETER Cavern
Thu March 19 2015 - KINGSTON New Slang
Fri March 20 2015 - BRIGHTON Haunt
Sat March 21 2015 - HERTFORDSHIRE Forum
Thu March 26 2015 - CHESTER Live Rooms
Fri March 27 2015 - NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Sat March 28 2015 - NORTHAMPTON Roadmender
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