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Funebre > Children of the Scorn > Reviews
Funebre - Children of the Scorn

Grip of Scorn - 91%

Hames_Jetfield, May 13th, 2022

One of the pioneers of Finnish death metal, about whom far too little is said. Funebre, because I am talking about them, is next to Disgrace, Abhorrence, Convulse, Xysma and Demilich one of the first bands from Finland, which together with the above-mentioned (but not only, because there were many more of these names) decided to show a slightly different view of the extreme music. Before that happened, the guys from Paimio started in 1989 with a quite promising, although standard for the genre, demo, a year later they improved with another tape and an ep released on vinyl (still in similar climates), and this "difference" was presented in 1991 with the release of their full-length (and more unique in content) debut, "Children Of The Scorn". By this release, Erkki Hellen, Toni Uusitalo, Sami Uusitalo, Esa Vähäsöyrinki and Jari Heinonen were among the first to contribute to what was later called Finnish (sic) death metal.

The intriguing atmosphere of "Children Of The Scorn" is primarily: mixing between very primitive rhythms and the more intricate ones, tendencies towards gloomy, doom metal slowdowns, low growling (sometimes approaching guttural - something like a germ for Demilich), morbidish riffs, occasional blasts, stuffy atmosphere, "sandy" (but not in Swedish style) production or even...surreal cover art. Best of all, this whole "twisting" (not to be confused with the technical one) came into excellent and well thought out songs. Music at every step knocks down with its heaviness, a lot of "concert" rhythms and the right dose of dinginess, and at the same time it boasts extraordinary melodies, certain guitar twists and interestingly varied solos (almost with a rock feeling). Examples include "Slumber End", "Congenital Defeat", "Grip Of Insanity", "Waiting For Arrival" or "Walls That Held Screams". The "Spirits Bewail" interlude is also nice, which very charmingly (by the "spooky" keys) announces the best, last three songs.

Time has shown that "Children Of The Scorn" is an undisputed classic of Finnish death metal, although nowadays it's a bit forgotten. Well, the music of Funebre was very different from the majority of other bands (also from their country) and was not one of the most typical. The problem, however, is that in 1991, the Finns from Funebre split-up, and the re-release of this album on cd appeared until 2004. This also made "Children..." - wrongly - become a classic with a small "k".

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2022/05/funebre-children-of-scorn-1991.html

A challenging death metal riddle - 85%

robotniq, June 17th, 2020

Funebre were an odd band. Every time they recorded something it sounded unlike what they had recorded previously. The vast difference in quality between their two demos was due to extensive line-up changes. The sonic difference between their second demo and "Children of the Scorn" is harder to understand since they were done by the same people. Released at the beginning of 1991, this might be the first Finnish death metal album (Xysma released "Yeah" at around the same time, if that counts). The sludgy, bleak miasma of the second demo is replaced by technical, topsy-turvy, thrashing death metal. I assume these guys spent many hours rehearsing before recording this, because the musical transformation is astonishing. The best illustration of this can be seen on the re-recorded version of "Grip of Insanity". This song is the only one from their demo days on here, but this version sounds like a cover version of a song by an older, more primitive band.

The hours these guys spent honing their new sound paid off, "Children of the Scorn" is better than both demos. There are a range of influences here. I hear Black Sabbath in many of the loose, locked grooves. Perhaps there was some cross-pollination with their countrymen Xysma and Disgrace, both of whom experimented with left-field, bluesy sounds in 1990. The old punk influence is still there, now tempered with technical thrash (presumably due to their improved musicianship). The result is a dense, explosive record that sounds superficially like Autopsy and maybe Dark Angel. It is a potent concoction. The album's best moments blend dizzying speed thrills and evil atmospheric riffs. There are two songs that demonstrate the finest of what Funebre could offer. The highlight is "Redeemed from Time", an almost perfect death metal song. This is a spectacular tour-de-force from the bassy intro to the eerie Slayer-ish section near the end. The second highlight is "Shiver", with its tight blasting, sharp riff turns and curvilinear aggression. Every song is convincing but those two (along with opener "Waiting for the Arrival") are the ones to check first.

The production differs from most other death metal bands. There is a lot happening musically, the instruments swarm like wasps. The guitar sound is warm, thick and fuzzy, more like hardcore punk (e.g., Infest) than death metal. This will not please people who want a comforting, typical death metal mush (such as the spookiness of the band's second demo). Personally, I think the production suited the band's ambitions. All the musicians are adept and confident in their playing, none of them want to hide in the mix. This is one of the few death metal records where the guitar, drums and bass are on equal footing. The bass sound is one of the best I've heard on a death metal album, taking some of the limelight usually reserved for guitar. Funebre are constantly balancing their desire to play challenging music with the need to maintain a virulent death metal ambience. They manage this for the most part, the black metal-esque riffing at the end of "Walls that Held Screams" is a good example. Balancing technicality with atmosphere is a tough ask, and the fact that Funebre succeeds to this extent is a testament to how good they are.

The lack of generic death metal on "Children of the Scorn" may not satisfy people looking for a cheap fix. Casual listeners of the Finnish style might dismiss the album based on the production or the fact that it doesn't sound like Demigod and Abhorrence. That would be missing the point. Finnish death metal wasn't always about creating sonic funerary mist. It was also about pushing death metal progression into unusual and unforeseen territory. "Children of the Scorn" is as important to this latter story as "Nespithe". You can hear echoes of great progressive death/black metal bands like Stargazer and The Chasm in this album. Those bands took some of these elements (complexity, non-showy musicianship, balanced production) into new pastures. This is an album for serious death metal fans who think they have heard everything the genre has to offer and are looking for a challenge. To those people I would say: find it, hear it, dismiss it, leave it for a while, then return to it. This is deep music, a complex riddle forgotten in time and space, waiting to be solved.

Waiting for the Arrival... - 90%

Nightmare_Reality, February 17th, 2012

When people talk about death metal from Finland, the names that are always brought up as the best are the usual culprits of Demigod, Convulse, Amorphis and Demilich, but what about Funebre? "Children of the Scorn" is the only full-length album that Funebre ever recorded, which is unfortunate because this album is great and severely underrated. I'm still not sure why these guys aren't as cherished by the metal underground, especially since this album preceded any of the now legendary records that those other aforementioned bands released.

At first I thought it might have been the glimpses of technicality and general weirdness of some of the riffs and basslines that might have turned people off from this record, but Demilich is pretty technical and a lot of pretentious death metal fans love to wank to "Nespithe." The riffs and the craziness that ensues with a lot of them throughout "Children of the Scorn" are stellar (though, some are cool for a listen but not all that memorable), especially on songs like "Congenital Defeat" and "Walls that Held Screams." Instead of taking the same approach to constructing some dark music by adding numerous tremolo passages and downtuned, doomy passages, Funebre delivers some crazy sounding riffs which add a nice sense of chaos to the music, placing significance on the actual music rather than trying to sound evil.

Don't get me wrong, these guys definitely can conjure up some vile sounding music when they want. While not settling for the usual heavy and muted tremolo bursts, Funebre goes for that eerie sound by using some higher notes for their weapon of tremolo picking assault, with "Walls that Held Screams" and "Slumber End" being two of the best instances of this. And of course there are the melodic parts that death metal bands from Finland have made so essential to their morbid sounding music. The melody near the beginning of "Waiting for the Arrival" should have no problem in sending chills down the listener's spine, while the melodic passage of "Blood on White" is exactly how melody should be integrated with death metal, and not like that shite from Gothenburg.

In between the crazy weirdness that Funebre does so well and the darker parts of their music, there are some heavy riffs ("Grip of Insanity" and "Redeemed From Time") that compliment the other parts well and give the listener an opportunity to bang their head. There really isn't much else to discuss regarding "Children of the Scorn," other than the riff in "Grip of Insanity" which sounds a lot like the riff on a certain Death song. This album isn't as great as "World Without God" or "Slumber of Sullen Eyes," nor does it have a lasting effect like those two albums, but it definitely deserves to be mentioned alongside them because this is a damn fine slab of filthy death metal.

Highlights
"Waiting for the Arrival"
"Shiver"
"Redeemed From Time"

Originally written for Nightmare Reality Webzine.
nightmarerealitywebzine.blogspot.com

Very underrated! - 85%

Revenant88, November 9th, 2008

I must say, that i'm quite dissapointed by the ratings of this album. Sure, it's not perfect, it has it's flaws, but hey, that is one big piece of classic. I strongly belive that it deserves more attention. Maybe it's not the best thing finnish scene had to offer, but it's not far from the best like Xysma, Demigod, Convulse, Disgrace, Demilich or Mordicus.

Yeap, the first thing to notice is the change of musical direction - "Demo'90" gave us some clues, where Funebre will wonder in their musical journey (all in all "Grip of Insanity" track is re-recorded on this full-lenght). While on "Cranial Torment" those finnish bastards presented themselves as death/grind team with grunnting vocals and down-turned sound, now they evolved to more mature approach. The songs are more complicated, more effort was put into their creation. Also the band progressed with their skills. The best example are fantastic solos. Funebre incorporated some thrash metal elements, which, as far as the speed and catchiness goes, remind me a little of Malevolent Creation and their first two releases. They are also some tempo wariations, e.g. in "Blood on White". The songs are somehow typical for old death metal finnish school. Deep vocal, nice rumbling riffs, some great solos and a lot of atmosphere.

Vocals are deep, grutning, maybe not the best I've heard, but still enjoyable, I cannot agree with my predecessor that they can get borring - well yes, they are quite one - dimenssional, but they fit music perfectly. Riffs are executed with deadly precision, they cut through air like razors through flesh. Solos are just fantastic - just listen to one in "Sinner's Eve" - pure mindblowing! Bass is clearly audiable, which is big plus, but it's hard to say anything more about it - it doesn't show any great skill. Still very nice that it's clear to hear, it adds more heaviness and gloom to the songs. Drums are very ok, maybe nothing to wet your pants, but executed fast, precise and with some invention.

What appear to me is the overall atmosphere of this album. "Children of the Scorn" is gloomy, dark, full of spirits and mysticysm. It gives a chill to the spine while listening with our lights turned off. For me it's just perfect example how to create great tension - it keeps us interested all the way through the album.

I heard a lot of complaints about this album production. Well I have re-release with slightly altered sound and everything is ok. If you expect clean, nice production, stay away, but if you enjoy true, old death metal you will fully accept it.

I possess the re-edition from Xtreem Cult Series. It comes with "Demo'90" and "Cranial Torment" as bonuses and because those two are also great materials it's highly recommended. Only the booklet is pure shit - no lyrics, no nothing. And the cover is altered - the new one is just terrible! But don't worry - inside awaits the original cover art, which is far superrior to the new one.

To sum it up I Find "Children of the Scorn" a worthy classic release of european death metal. Apart from not the best production it's hard for me to point any big flaws. Songs are typical, but interresting, the atmosphere is excellent. If you enjoy old death metal and you're looking for something with soul give it a try! You won't be dissapointed!

A Bit Different But O.K. - 73%

CHRISTI_NS_ANITY8, June 4th, 2008

Funebre with their first album changed a bit their music, and I believe that is a thing that matters both the production and the real music. Well, the band itself grew a lot in knowledge of their instruments and skills, filling their sound with others influences, instead of continuing the path of the classic, morbid death/gore of the beginnings. Now everything sounds less impulsive and rotten with some thrash metal influences and more mature structures.

The production is finally a good one, but there could be diverging opinions about this because the purists of the death metal who loved the band during the early days, could not enjoy the new style and sounds. Anyway, the morbidity and the violence are always present but this time it’s better to talk about death/thrash with guttural vocals. The guitars distortion is like a chainsaw but the axe men didn’t concentrate their attention only on the fast tremolo pickings on the power chords, but also on the classic palm muting and this is another sign of change.

There is a good alternation of down tempo and up tempo (”Blood On White”), but the early grind influences are less present and important for the group. Now the structures are also filled with strange bass parts, almost progressive and also the length of the various songs has become shorter. Furthermore, also the lyrics have changed a lot and now, instead of being about gore and human dissection, they talk about madness, spirits: so the music is perfect for the new direction.

Most of the times, the speed of the drums is concentrated on the double kick, that is preferred to the classic snare up tempo that anyway we can find preponderant in an old school song like “Shiver”, where the band brings to life the old death/grind spirit through some blast beats too. In these songs, in general the riffage is schizophrenic and quite intricate with some keyboards sounds too, just to create a gloom atmosphere along with the odd lead guitars lines.

Overall, I think that is a pretty decent album with some flaws but with a more original sound, compared to the demos. The flaws are mostly concentrated on the production that is not great at all for the bass drum that has a strange echo and for its sound that is not clean at all. The grunting vocals have no variations and this could be dull if you are not into this kind of music, but me too I find them too monotonous in their tonality. Despite these things I believe that, with album, you can enjoy a forgotten Finnish death metal classic.