Funeral for the Sane

Have you ever had a first date that went so well that you couldn't help but get your hopes up for the next one? Yet on the second date you realized something was not quite right, and things probably weren't going to work out? I had a similar experience when listening to Necrovorous' Funeral for the Sane. On my initial listen, I was really impressed and was even excited to listen to the album again. However, after a little more time with Funeral for the Sane I realized that while it was enjoyable, the album wasn't quite as remarkable as I had originally thought.

Necrovorous play a form of old school death metal that's somewhere in the neighborhood of Autopsy, Grave, and old Entombed. Funeral for the Sane is the Greek band's debut full-length, and it's a good one at that. When the band is firing on all cylinders, it ranks with some of the best bands playing this style. Necrovorous especially succeeds when it creates a dark, evil atmosphere. Most of "The Vilest of All Dreams" and "Deathknells" are cloaked in a crawling shroud of blackness. The menacing Entombed-style leads in "Mind Lacerations" and "Dwellers of My Flesh" also add plenty of gloom to the album. These traits initially impressed me enough to make me really excited about Funeral for the Sane. However, the songs can sometimes suffer from parts that are too simple and repetitive. It's hard not to start looking at the clock during these moments while waiting for the band to "get to the good part." It's not that the riffs in question aren't decent, but they don't always hold up well to repetition. Necrovorous can also be pretty sloppy at times. In some instances like the sloppy intro lead to "The Vilest of All Dreams," it really adds character to the song. On other admittedly rare occasions, it can feel like the band is struggling to hold things together. The repetitive riffs, and to a lesser extent the sloppiness, drag the album down from the level of "top shelf" to "pretty good." Maybe I had too high of expectations after my initial listen. I hate to be damning a good album with faint praise. I feel like what I'm saying is the equivalent of "She has a great personality" or "He's nice." But it's just not the response I was hoping for after multiple passes through the album.

Despite my complaints, fans of the bands mentioned previously will find plenty to enjoy here. If you have an insatiable need to feed on this style, by all means pick up Funeral for the Sane. Everyone else should probably wait for the band's next album. Funeral for the Sane is definitely a good time, and sometimes that's all one might want. While several tracks definitely satisfy, I was hoping for a little more overall. Let's give Necrovorous another chance on the next album and see what develops.

Originally written for http://www.metalpsalter.com

With a suitably dark and eerie cover is the music of Necrovorous' "Funeral For The Sane" immediately identified as some kind of ominous brooding extreme metal concoction, which the 39 minutes within do nothing to dispel. At times a slow dirge through the cesspits of the world Autopsy, Coffins and Incantation prohibit and at others a blast along with the fellow crust-hordes Tribulation, Dead Congregation and Sonne Adam, this is a release for what could convincingly be described as the 'old-schoolers' of the death metal brigade. Never pretty but eminently listenable, "Succubus Dormitory" follows the typical synth intro with nothing special but "The Vilest Of All Dreams" which soon follows has a great groove to it, rich in decrepit guitar tone and the stench of natural drumsound.

"Deathknells", "Spawn Of Self Abhorrence" and the title track all home the kind of riffs any death-head worth his salt will find immediate appreciation of but in the Entombed-esque roll of "Malignant Entrapment" do these Greeks best ply their trade. Growled vocals all the way and a collection of riffs that sit in the 'heavy head nodding' scale of total neck annihilation, it reminds of why I loved Tribulation's "The Horror" so much: prohibitively old-school in nature but with enough nous to not record in a cake of mud and distortion with room for the instruments to breathe. Ahhh.

Nothing groundbreaking of course going on here, but "Funeral For The Sane" comes with my recommendation for the fans of any of the bands above. That is a total no-brainer.

Originally written for www.Rockfreaks.net