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funeralforafriend_welcomehomearmageddon
Artist: Funeral For A Friend
Title: Welcome Home Armageddon
Genre: Rock / Post-Hardcore / Emo / Screamo
Release Date: 11th March 2011
Label: Roadrunner Records


Album Review

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND are about to unleash their fifth (not counting in the compilation) album ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’. Two of the songs (‘Sixteen’ and ‘Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't ‘) contained here, were in ‘The Young and Defenceless’ single released in December 2010 whilst the video for ‘Front Row Seats to the End of the World’ came out in January this year and though ‘Sixteen’ is scheduled to come on different dates of March in various areas, I’ve seen it on YouTube already. In many ways the former is good choice - mainly because it represents the album well. There’s a more mature hardness, which reminds one of PANTERA, some come-back to their youthful roots as well in the Pop-ish punk-rock parts, and also some leanings towards melody, not to mention its catchiness. ‘Sixteen’ is more reminiscent of their older songs and doesn’t really offer any other or new angle to the band.

In terms of melody and also a great song that contrasts the other content is ‘Medicated’, which for me stands as the best song on the album. It’s a mostly slow piece accompanied by a more detailed guitar work, it has its screamy angsty parts as well, but they are matching it just to intensify the emotive charge of it in a good measure. ‘Aftertaste’ is a heavy song, with some good punk parts, some instrumental parts of it, especially the bass line, are also interesting as they really weight down the song as a damn heavy stone and you can say that sometimes life feels just like that and this song thus serves a good reflection of that aspect. ‘Spinning Over The Island’ comes after it quite well with its growling start and pure kick energy.

Some herald ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ as the band’s coming to its peak, probably as it’s more accessible and easy to digest than the more demanding parts they’ve tried to get on with in ‘Memory and Humanity’ and the album ‘Tales Don’t Tell Themselves’ that preceded that one. This album indeed has gone to flirt again with the sound they’ve started out with and FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND melded it with some metal elements and punk closer to its genre roots, but to me it says they’re still experimenting where they really want to be at, hence I don’t think they’ve arrived yet but are still going to find “their sound”, which is not a bad thing at all, it leaves all the fun of anticipation.


Tracklist

01. This Side of Brightness - 0:44
02. Old Hymns - 2:32
03. Front Row Seats to the End of the World - 3:30
04. Sixteen - 2:50
05. Aftertaste- 3:37
06. Spinning Over the Island - 5:03
07. Man Alive - 2:49
08. Owls (Are Watching) - 3:32
09. Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't - 3:29
10. Medicated - 3:36
11. Broken Foundation - 3:29
12. Welcome Home Armageddon - 5:25


Line-up

Matthew Davies – lead vocals
Gavin Burrough – guitar, backing vocals
Ryan Richards – drums, aggression vocals
Kris Coombs-Roberts – guitar, backing vocals (previously bass)
Richard Boucher – bass


Websites

http://www.funeralforafriend.com / http://www.facebook.com/funeralforafriend / http://www.myspace.com/funeralforafriend


Cover Picture

funeralforafriend_welcomehomearmageddon


Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10

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