Funeral Circle - Sinister Sacrilege
Funeral Circle is a Doom band hailing from Vancouver, Canada and have released their first official ep courtesy of Miskatonic Records. I heard a earlier demo from them and while the songs were great, the production was too thin for the music to leave any lasting impact. Things have turned around now because this is a beast of the ep with good production and things can only get better for this band who has some huge potential to be a monster within the Doom scene. The band is made up of a guitarist/singer who goes by the name of The Grand Inquisitor, Pilgrim who also plays Guitars, Malphas on bass and Patriarch playing drums. Whats unique about this band is the range of styles of Doom they covered, within the 30 minutes or so of this CD you will sounds similar to Candlemass, Pentagram, The Lamp Of Thoth, Paul Chain, Saint Vitus, Witchfinder General, Solstice and sometimes you will hear this all within the one song. The first two tracks, "Homunculus" and "Legions Invictus" are in the epic doom style similar to the likes of Candlemass but with a original twist. The vocalist, The Grand Inquisitor gives the songs some powerful and inspiring vocals and his lead playing shows a good understanding of vibrato and phrasing. Something that would make Tony Iommi proud. The rhythm section propels the tunes along that make you stand up and take notice, may even give you the chills up the spine like all good Doom Metal should do.
"Legions Invictus" is exceptionally arousing, similar to The Lamp Of Thoth's best work in as it features some well conceived and executed spoken word passages. "Sinister Sacrilege" kicks up the pace a little sounding like something out of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal era, with twists and turns this track sounds like it was made to be a opener or closer to a live set. While the tempo is pushed up a gear on this one, the track still retains the Doom sound and feel throughout. The track with the rather cheesy title "Fist of Satan" is more N.W.O.B.H.M esque style with some more up - tempo with a great riff and the chorus is especially catchy. The ep ends with a cover of an obscure 80’s Canadian band known as Lord Ryur. The song is called "Pact with the Sinner" and it fits in well with the rest of the cd. Sounding a little like Witchfinder General, this is pure old school Doom Metal Rock. Its great to see so much good stuff coming out of Canada right now. Funeral Circle are a band worth paying attention to with this EP. The songs are great and the musicianship is there, and they have a killer vocalist. If you’re into traditional Doom Metal and if you are a old school Doom fan you will dig the hell out of this baby. Can't wait for a full length album to come out from this band, now that is something to look forward to.
"Legions Invictus" is exceptionally arousing, similar to The Lamp Of Thoth's best work in as it features some well conceived and executed spoken word passages. "Sinister Sacrilege" kicks up the pace a little sounding like something out of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal era, with twists and turns this track sounds like it was made to be a opener or closer to a live set. While the tempo is pushed up a gear on this one, the track still retains the Doom sound and feel throughout. The track with the rather cheesy title "Fist of Satan" is more N.W.O.B.H.M esque style with some more up - tempo with a great riff and the chorus is especially catchy. The ep ends with a cover of an obscure 80’s Canadian band known as Lord Ryur. The song is called "Pact with the Sinner" and it fits in well with the rest of the cd. Sounding a little like Witchfinder General, this is pure old school Doom Metal Rock. Its great to see so much good stuff coming out of Canada right now. Funeral Circle are a band worth paying attention to with this EP. The songs are great and the musicianship is there, and they have a killer vocalist. If you’re into traditional Doom Metal and if you are a old school Doom fan you will dig the hell out of this baby. Can't wait for a full length album to come out from this band, now that is something to look forward to.
1. Homunculus
2. Legions Invictus
3. Sinister Sacrilege
4. Fist of Satan
5. Pact with a Sinner
The Miskatonic Foundation
Reviewer: Ed
Dec 21, 2009
Dec 21, 2009
Next review:
Dopethrone - Demonsmoke
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