Fvnerals - The Path

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If you’ve ever felt like the world is an ugly, merciless place and that the only beauty you can find is in the darkness of the human spirit, perhaps the music of FVNERALS could be for you. The somber, achingly slow drone rock this group manifests pays homage to the transcendental states that can be achieved through long periods of loneliness and misery.

Although I have been listening to Post Rock for many years now, I still find it extremely difficult to describe to the layman. What exactly is after rock? It is an implication that Rock music has ceased to be or, at the least, the artists stopped trying to “rock” you while still experimenting with rock instrumentation. If you were looking for a midway point between Indie Rock and Progressive Rock, Post Rock would be somewhere in between those two shades of music. Some bands to check out, if you were unfamiliar with the genre, would be GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, SIGUR ROS, TORTOISE and CUL DE SAC just to get you started. But since we’re talking about FVNERALS here, who aren’t as eminent or pre-established an artist as the ones I previous mentioned, I am going to continue this review as if you are already well-versed with the characteristics of Post Rock music.

The first track off of this EP, “Solemn” certainly has the vibe of being inside of a temple. The choral vocals and the omnipotence of the organs that enter in the last part of the song really drive home the experience that you are taking part of a very gloomy communion. But instead of the soaring, divine vocals you might experience from a choir or chanting, Tiffany Strm’s voice has a much more thin, ghastly character to it. Although I wouldn’t necessarily classify this song in the Doom category, all of the elements I have heard before in other Doom songs are present.

The English trio of gloomy post-rockers takes you on a stellar voyage through the blue soul bursting through the minimalistic take on folk with a BLACK SABBATH spin to it. The vocals guitars on the song “Ruin” continues to haunt you long after it is over. Tiffany Strm’s vocals seem to find themselves sounding somewhere in between Chelsea Wolfe and PORTISHEAD. And I would even go so far as to compare FVNERALS’ music to some Chris Isaak songs I have heard before.

For the short amount of time this EP takes up, I’d say its well worth your time checking out. This music is good but it definitely feels like it’s a part of something larger except that part happens to be missing. This was my first exposure to FVNERALS so although I wasn’t overly moved or impressed by “The Path”, I can certainly see myself yearning to hear more of what they have to offer.