OccultBlackMetalZine: Funerary Descent

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Funerary Descent Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

1. Originally, this was a blackened crust-punk band called Ancient Tongues, but this shifted into a black metal band upon the line up change that occured in early 2013 but that then shifted to a doom/black metal sound. After the release with Uruk-Hai the band named was changed to Funerary Descent for legal reasons. But we are a three piece from three differerent cities in Maryland, consisting of Ceyatatar (guitars/bass/keys), Northwood (guitars), and Skeiron (vocals).

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

2. This is a sort of "generic" USBM sound but taken with a grain of salt and met with a massive doom influence from the likes of Nortt, Cough and Thou...but to be more specific it is blackened sludge metal in the vein of Dragged Into Sunlight and Nortt. A heavy veil of reverbed guitars and screams is cast upon the music. We also incorporate keyboards/synthesizers into some songs and in the case of the split release, 2 of the songs were strictly keyboards.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

3. Ghost stories, misery, solitude, and general discomfort with life. Nihilism. Hatred towards organized religion.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

4. It is what one would experience if they were being buried alive but not too terribly upset about the ordeal.

5. Has the band done any live shows or is this a studio project?

5. We initially were considering the idea of live shows and did one rehearsal but decided it would be best to leave this as just a studio project but never say never!

6. Recently you put out a split with Urak-Hai, what are your thoughts on the other band that was apart of the album?

6. All of us are enormous Uruk-Hai fans and truly enjoy Hugin's music and was very good to broaden our musical horizons and perform with a master of a some what different genre than ours. We have the utmost respect for Hugin and hope to work with him again one day.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your recordings by fans of black metal and other forms of music?

7. It has been above average but there of course some people who do not like it, but that is normal. Some people say that it is great and love the song writing and atmosphere but others find the negatives out weigh the good in regards to the mixing and mastering along with the recording and (terrible) drum machine. This was recorded in a couple sessions in one of our basements and so it did not have the opportunity to be really recorded properly. Probably our best feedback seems to be from your review (thanks again for doing so) and being played on Diabolus Templum radio show were ultimate honors.

8. Are there any other musical projects besides this band?

8. Yes, Ceyatatar is in a solo ambient/neo-classical project called Onyx (facebook.com/onyxambient123 -onyxambient123.bandcamp.com), Onyx is very heavily influenced by the likes of ambient Burzum pieces, Uruk-Hai and Ringbearer (from Canada). Northwood is also in a forthcoming black metal project Vragnaroga, which is likely to be a live act at some point in time. Northwood and Skeiron also do a video review series on YouTube called "Cryptic Archives".

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

9. Slower and thicker sounding. We will have fast parts again but not as frequent as the first demo tape. Listeners can also expect a better production as we will soon be able to say we have our own drummer as opposed to a rather overpolished/triggered drum machine. It will be heavier and darker and ultimately more atmospheric.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

10. Our influences include Moonblood, Nortt, Barbelith, Bathory, Dominium, Cemetery Piss, Sunn 0))), Xasthur and Burzum. Northwood has been really into neo-folk (Wardruna) and post-rock (GY!BE, This Will Destroy You) lately and of course progressive black metal (Enslaved) . Ceyatatar is thoroughly engulfed into ambient music (Ringbearer, Uruk-Hai) and some progressive metal (Myrath) as well. Skeiron is really into hardcore (Nails) late

11. Does Occultism play any role in your music?

11. No, I don't believe so as we try to avoid any use of the occult or any religious/mythological themes in our lyrics. Ceyatatar is an Atheist so there is no wish to incorporate any themes besides reality into the lyrics.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

12. I think we can also agree on enjoying history and playing video games, (RPGs mostly it seems, such as Elder Scrolls series from Bethesda Softworks). Northwood is very much into walks in nature and Ceyatatar is very much into things like handling/repairing computer hardware.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

13. We will have a full length album out sometime in 2014, we appreciate you taking the time to interview us as we always enjoy doing this and hopefully readers will be influenced by reading this interview to stick with the Occult Black Metal Zine and Funerary Descent.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Funerary Descent/Self Titled/2013 EP Review

Funerary Descent are a band from Maryland that plays a mixture of atmospheric black metal, dark ambient, and doom and this is a review of their self titled and self released 2013 ep.

Song one "Funerary Descent" starts off with some avant garde sound effects before an ambient and atmospgeric sounding organ kicks inn setting up the atmosphere for the rest of the ep.

Song two "To Scour The Path Of Mortal Anguish" starts with some some drum programming before some darker sound effects start kicking in as well as the drum beats getting alot faster along with some dark ambient elements from the synths before slowing down to some heavy drone/noise elements while bringing back the faster drum machine parts to close off the song.

Song three "Chained To The Precipe" starts out with some slow doom drum programming, dark atmospheric sounds and grim sounding black metal screams which lead the guitars kicking in with some slow and melodic depressive black/doom metal riffs along with some heavy sounding bass guitar before speeding up and getting more aggressive and heavier, while slowly reverting back to the melodic doom shortly afterwords as well as doing the switch back and forth between being slow and fast for some time before closing the song with a slow and heavy bass line.

Song four "As Spirits Wander The Nether Plane" start out with a slow and heavy riff before the fast drum programming and grim sounding black metal screams kick in for a few seconds before going back to the slow black/doom parts while having some weird and dark sounding melodies in the riffing, then the music switches back and forth between being slow and fast for most of the minute then slowing for for good at the last minute of the song.

Song five "Nothingness" starts out with some atmospheric and dark ambient sounding synths being played at a slow pace for a minute then some heavy guitar distortion and black metal screams start kicking in along with some heavy drone/doom elements from the guitars along with some drum programming, remaining that way for a few minutes before the synths start kicking back in making the song sound more depressive and avant garde then the music switches back to being heavy black/doom metal with the grim sounding screams kicking in really hard before switching to the back and forth parts before going into a more black/drone direction until the end of the recording.

Song Lyrics cover dark themes with a touch of dying and the after life, while the production has a very dark, raw, heavy and primitive sound while you can still hear all of the musical instruments that are present on this recording with the songs being very long and epic in length.

In my opinion Funerary Descent are a very great sounding hybrid of atmospheric black metal, doom and drone and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Chained To The Precipe and "Nothingness". RECOMMENDED BUY.