Funeral - The Funereal (2025)

Dropping completely unexpectedly, today we have legendary Norwegian Doom Metal band Funeral with a four song EP titled “The Funereal”. Featuring a three movement song and an acoustic piece, this release continues the band’s voyage through Doom Metal territories with lush string instruments (violin) and crushingly heavy riffs. For fans of the genre, this is a nice entry in 2025, a year that has started slow with these types of releases.

The EP starts with the cavernous riffing and harsh growls of the first part of “Gamalt ljós”. This opener keeps things more old-school Death Doom Metal, at first and suddenly transitions into dreamy clean vocals and dramatic violins. The melancholy is cranked up to 11 as the second part of this track rolls around, with well crafted dramatic passages, reminiscent of the most recent Hamferð and Iotunn albums - probably since Jón Aldará provides the vocals for this piece. This oozes into the cinematic part three, which has a more atmospheric and solemn tone, with some spoken word sections and a chilling vibe.

Closing with the acoustic version of “Når Kisten Senkes”, one of the best tracks of their previous release “Gospel of Bones”, this release continues the band's legacy. It is quite cool to hear the first, three part, song with Jón Aldará on vocals, giving the band that extra dimension and a different take on their usual antics. As a whole, this EP is quite doomy and engaging, certain to please any of the band’s fans and followers of the genre.

Label: Season of Mist

Release: June 2nd, 2025

Genre: Doom Metal

Country: Norway