Funereal Presence - Achatius

I will be totally honest with you: I had never heard this band Funereal Presence before. I was aware of the name, true, but had never felt the urge to take some time and give them – or him, in this case – a go. Oh boy, I was in for a treat, was I not? In a way, yes.

The bastard creation of Bestial Devotion, drummer for Negative Plane. I never gave much attention to Negative Plane, to be honest, but once I started researching and letting this Funereal Presence sink in, I found myself with the need to know where did the Funereal Presence sound come from.

I will always be a sucker for 90s European black metal: Hammer or Mortuary Drape, for example. Those bands introduced elements that came and slapped everyone in the face, that gave way to different ways of approaching a genre that was still learning to walk. I did not grow with these bands, obviously, I found then years later, but still look at them as essential to what we would see years later.

And what does this has to do with Funereal Presence? Simple: he does not walk the line, walked before by millions of black metal musicians. The first band that came to mind as soon as the “Achatius” started playing was - and I will explain why - Virus, the Norwegian band. Wait! Not in terms of sound, obviously, but in terms of: this is NOT just what people labeled it, THIS is more, you can find a lot more than just black metal. Hell, sometimes it even reminds me of Ved Buens Ende hahaha

But back to Funereal Presence. I gave his catalogue a listen. Normally I would not listen to this line of black metal, to be honest. I see myself, today, looking more for ambiance and atmosphere than musical technic or virtuoso in black metal – and music in general - but Funereal Presence, as well as Negative Plane, were very easy to listen to. How come? Well, their music just floated and hovered above and around the sphere I live in, and it soothed me. You can even sense a traditional heavy metal flavor to the way some riffs come out amongst the black metal savagery.

Overall this is a very cohesive work composed of four lengthy songs. Love that almost traditional heavy metal riff in the first one ('Wherein Achatius Is Awakened And Called Upon')! It sounded sooooo epic and barbarian! As a whole this first song sounds very traditional heavy metal throughout its full length. Those harsh vocals do sit well with those riffs. The drumming is exquisite, going from groovy to aggressive within seconds. For moments, I was able to envision Conan and Sonja, with their battle axes… and just a hint of corpse paint. Disturbing image, maybe…

'Wherein A Messenger Of The Devil Appears'. That initial riff did not sound good the first time I heard it… it still does not sound good. As the song continues it gains some momentum, but overall I point it out as the weakest of the four. When it hits the 8th minute, it slows down, giving way to this “break” that I just don’t understand why. Generally speaking this song sounds like a mix of things, hoping that they would sound, in the end, as a whole. 10:42. Love that riff. I don’t know… I can appreciate several moments of the song but, from start to finish so many parts sound… not good.

'Wherein Seven Celestial Beasts Are Revealed To Him'. It kicks off with this sort of acoustic intro, and… on comes the black metal savagery roaring like a wild beast! It is so well constructed, all the pieces are so perfectly put together. It is a long song, over 11 minutes, but it never sounds boring! Again, I sense the traditional heavy metal influence. Alongside the more Kold and Kutting black metal riffs, these smoother, more melodic riffs sound refreshing! 06:14… After slowing the pase of the sing, it drops all this weight, this heavy riffing!

'Wherein Achatius Is Flogged To The Hills Of Violation'. A great way to close the album. The inclusion of short details throughout the song really makes it grown and it sounds like a beast. Very close to what he achieved with the previous song, in this one all the elements – even those that, it first, you did not imagine working well together – really sound cohesive and flow in a very melodious way. I will be honest: this is my favorite song of all four! The way he places the slow parts with the fast parts, the groovy drumming with the ferocious drumming, the black metal riffing with the more traditional sounding riffs, and spits out this beast… it is really wonderful to listen to!

I had no expectations when I embraced this quest, but I came out with the desire to give Negative Plane another go! It might not be completely appealing for fans of the classical – Nordic, may I say? – line of black metal, for it “sails” through more than one sea, and it brings to the table various variations that we do not see everyday in traditional black metal structure as it does not live, exclusively, in the black metal domain. Those that enjoy what Negative Plane, and are not aware of Funereal Presence, will definetely enjoy his outake on black metal.

1. Wherein Achatius Is Awakened And Called Upon
2. Wherein A Messenger Of The Devil Appears
3. Wherein Seven Celestial Beasts Are Revealed To Him
4. Wherein Achatius Is Flogged To The Hills Of Violation