A thing that needs to be said again, and that is of the band naming variety. Whereas I have previously stated that Feral’s fellow label mates Crawl should have named themselves something along the lines of ‘Holy Fuck’ due to the fact that the name gives little away in the area of how they actually DO sound, I’m gonna say from the outset that Sweden’s Feral, have certainly got that part, at least, spot on. Why do I say this? Well, you shall have to read on then won’t you.
Forming in around 2007, and having such previously awesome releases such as 2011’s “Dragged to the Altar”, 2015’s “Where Dead Dreams Dwell” and the fantastic EP “From the Mortuary” in 2016, The news that they had signed to the inimitable Transcending Obscurity Records had me giggling like a schoolgirl on prom night. Maybe that’s the wrong image to go with such a band, but so be it, that’s how it was, trust me. Would being signed to such a label bring out even more excellence from an already mind blowing band? Only time would tell.
Well people, that time is now, well, last December actually, but this one has been sitting in my TO DO pile for a while, and so it is about time that I got around to doing it, and with that we shall continue. Ladies and Gentleman, Dogs and Cats, and all other species of the world, I now present to you the latest release from Feral, that being “Flesh For Funerals Eternal”, a title that well continues their theme of dead shit, hardly surprising seeing as they are indeed first and foremost, a Death Metal band. Who’d of thunk it.
Yes, as aforementioned, Feral are indeed of the Swedish variety, so it comes as no surprise that they play a particularly nasty kind oh HM-2 soaked madness, as do a lot of Swedish bands, but there is something in the delivery of their chosen form of insanity that really grabs you by the short and curlies, and I’m here to tell you why.
It is a no brainer that I am indeed a fan of this kind of sound, heck, Paganizer’s amazing “Land of Weeping Souls” was my number one for 2017, and here is the reason that this one will also rate very highly. It’s quite simple, David Nilsson and co have managed to deliver another album that has the eminent ability to be played over and over again without you, the listener, getting sick of it. Sure, Feral aren’t setting out to reinvent the genre, far from it. They are grabbing the Swe Death sound by the very balls and squeezing the life out of them. You will hear shades of so many other bands before them in their sound, but yet again we must address the very velocity in which this album is delivered, and in that lies the beauty of this release.
From track one “Vaults of Undead Horror” you will know exactly where you stand, that being in some sort of Zombie apocalypse type soundtrack, or maybe even the soundtrack to the end of the world. David himself bringing a delivery on vocals not much unlike that of what you would expect from the very dead themselves, freshly dead mind you, the ones with vocal chords still, not the dry rasp of the long term deceased.
Track the second “Black Coven Secrets” gives us all a perspective of just how tight these guys are, with Sebastian and Markus on guitar duties crunching the living crap out of all around. The bass work of Viktor also needs to be mentioned here, as can often be the case in music of such density it can be drowned out in the maelstrom, but here it is as solid and underpoint to the madness as can ever be had.
And so it goes. The absolute class in which Roger on drums fills every little gap and accentuates this superb release on the drums is a credit to his ability to no end, and thus my statement about being tight rings so true. No slopiness here, just pure excellence in every aspect. If this is the type of music you crave, then this is as good as it gets. Roll on to “Of Gods no Longer Invoked” for a more mid paced affair containing some neck breaking D – Beat, and you have pure Swe Death paradise, and that bass, yet again, whoah.
“Accursed” begins with a Vincent Price sounding soundbite, correct me if I’m wrong, and then launches into more of the same, almost reminiscent of a bit of early Entombed. More groove to let the crunch float above and whack you around the ears, then “Horrendous Sight” comes a galloping out of the gate right at your noggin and one can only sit back in awe, swig on ones beer, and just enjoy the fuck out of it. “Buried” brings back the mid pace, and closer “Bled Dry”, although short in length, makes sure that you are exactly that.
Kudos to Feral, for not only continuing an already great legacy, but for making sure that they have stuck to their very roots, a thing a lot of bands old or new cannot say anymore. This is the kind of shit that people will keep playing long after all the complicated bullshit that others play goes away, and that is for a simple reason or two. It is thoroughly enjoyable, immediately accessible, and just a damn good listen for all. Feral? Fucking amen to that!
Transcending Obscurity Records.With the likes of Sadistik Forest, Master, Paganizer and so many others on board, and this lot, you are a fast becoming THE force to be reckoned with as far as the future of METAL is concerned. Here’s cheers to that.
Rating – 4.5/5
Get feral yourself below!
https://feralsweden.bandcamp.com/album/flesh-for-funerals-eternal-death-metal
The Metal Wanderlust 