Haste is a foreign concept to Funebrarum. In the time between the New Jersey death metal outfit’s latest record, Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence, and their previous full-length, The Sleep of Morbid Dreams, a Maltese family could raise a child and legally serve them their first drink. Their last release of any sort, Exhumation of the Ancient, was a decade ago. Hell, Beckoning… has sat fully recorded since before anybody knew what a COVID was, though vocalist and guitarist Darryl Kahan is unbothered by those resume gaps. As he should be, since Beckoning… is a tremendously haunted return for his group.
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Given these lengthy breaks, Funebrarum venturing into death-doom feels appropriate. They promote the synths that crept around The Sleep of Morbid Dreams into full-time employees and lower the average beats-per-minute. There’s no definite impetus for the change, but here’s one theory: Phil Tougas, who was asked to join the group in 2017. The Montreal guitarist favors mid-range tempos, his solos flashing much brighter when contrasted against the audial equivalent of a mining conveyor belt. These seem to be his largest contribution to the record. He’s recognizable on choice shredding sessions like “Through the Barren Halls of Grieving Emptiness,” but elsewhere, rides along with the central riff.
That being said, Tougas has such a gravitational pull with his guitarwork, one that has aged like a fine wine since Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence was recorded in 2019, that Funebrarum would’ve been foolish to not play to his strengths. The death-doom pacing in which Tougas excels was already within Funebrarum’s DNA, so the metamorphosis was strategic rather than a submission to a superstar. Kahan states that it wasn’t that intentional, however. “When Phil joined years ago and we started exchanging riffs and ideas, it felt natural. No accommodation required.”
Thus, one can assume the development came from Kahan and Tougas feeding off each other rather than working backwards from a predetermined destination. Lending more credence to this are Kahan’s words about Tougas, “He is a great guy, extremely talented and a natural fit. We come from the same place, mostly, regarding our varied musical tastes and our approach to creating Death Metal. He and the others in the band know what the mission is in Funebrarum and all bring something to the table. A collaborative effort.”
Said mission has remained largely static despite the years between formal releases, shifting band members, and life, in general. Remember, Beckoning… was recorded in 2019 and based on Kahan’s words, it appears it’s stayed in roughly the same shape. When asked if his original idea for the record has changed since he recorded it, Kahan wrote, “The concept never changed really. Life and other familial responsibilities put the band in the back seat for me, for a while. We are glad to finally release our new album to the world.”
Kahan speaks about Funebrarum as if he’s a securely attached parent watching his child play on the jungle gym. Freedom and space are readily distributed because he knows he will always come back to the band and needn’t helicopter around it during its time away. Since The Sleep of Morbid Dreams, Funebrarum has slowly unfolded their petals, but that’s because the subtle slowing down and symphonic additions, as they appear on Beckoning…, can only come from life happening, not conscious reinvention. Beckoning… still sounds like Funebrarum, just further along in growth.
This, fortunately, triumphs over the identity crisis looming for any group with large gaps between albums. How does one hold onto the core aspects that define their moniker? Kahan looks at it this way; why worry about what he always has? “The original members of Funebrarum are men my age in their early 50s. People move away and start families, such as being in a band. I also formed other bands and musical projects to keep me busy during the hiatuses. It was always my intent to continue with Funebrarum. I found quality and skilled people with the interest to record and tour. We are a Death Metal band. I still enjoy creating and playing this style of music. It is what comes naturally to me. Key Ideas would be: Heavier, Darker, Faster, more dynamic… the impure essence of audial evil.”
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The conception of evil that occupies Kahan also tethers Funebrarum to their past. It’s the same occult entity flowing through their appendages and summoning itself into existence, though the particulars of said evil machination adorn Beckoning… with embalming salts and pagan funeral rites. Distinct from death metal’s usual fascination with evil, the psychological horror and slasher thematics or the aggressively anti-religious, Funebrarum’s is akin to the solitude that’d possess one to burn a church down, for instance, despite sonically being cold-in-the-grave death metal.
To Kahan, death metal is dark, heavy, and haunting. The third element arises on Beckoning… from its pacing but even more so from the emboldened keyboards, which occupy a role not dissimilar from a symphonic black metal album. Play “Ancestral Manor” in Hamtramck, Michigan and someone would mistake it for dungeon synth. On the subject of why they play such a larger role on the record, Kahan replied,
“I enjoy music made with keyboards and synths, in a variety of genres. I, and some of the other members, have involvement in the black metal scene, myself going back over 30 years. We have no fear of treading outside perceived boundaries. I feel that our music is clearly ‘Death Metal’ but labels are for the media and record store owners. One death metal band whose use of keyboards always struck me is, Thou Shalt Suffer from Norway, the demo and EP.”
Another haunting element, albeit a more subtle one, is how Funebrarum grieve. “Into Dark Domains” was the only song they repurposed from Exhumation of the Ancient and it “ has some lyrical undertones of a girlfriend of mine who was killed in Paris years ago,” Kahan says. “I also lost my Dad shortly after the recording.” These aren’t externalized through the music. They’re dealt with nondescriptly, and it’s for the best. Death adopts a new tone when in the room with real people. Funebrarum understand that.
They also comprehend that death metal is more about performance and movement than rigorous analysis, with Kahan concluding our email correspondence about the unholy affair that is Beckoning…with a plea to cut through the noise. “Again, we play Death Metal! Grip an invisible orange and go fuckin mental!!”
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Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence is available now via Pulverised Records.
