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Funeral Mist - Salvation review



Reviewer:
9.1

96 users:
8.27
Band: Funeral Mist
Album: Salvation
Release date: July 2003


01. Agnus Dei
02. Breathing Wounds
03. Holy Poison
04. Sun Of Hope
05. Perdition's Light
06. Across The Qliphoth
07. Realm Of Plagues
08. Circle Of Eyes
09. Bread To Stone
10. In Manus Tuas

Some years ago I saw the cover of Funeral Mist's debut and thought "I bet it's just mindless blasturbation".

I was wrong... Now, I do enjoy some Black Metal that is full of blasts but it gets really boring after a while and the main reason is that those bands are inconsistent with their music. Funeral Mist on the other hand don't have that problem.
So, what do we have here? Pure chaos, that's what you'll get from the cd. The music is fast, furious and with lots of blasts but there's something special about this album and that's the extremely blood-chilling "ceremonial" atmosphere. This music is evil.

Guitars as sharp and rusty as an old chainsaw playing both raw and melodic riffs, well-executed drums and eerie samples are the main formula here. Even though the guitarwork is astonishing with it's evil melodies and the drumming is intense with it's calculated variety, the most important thing is the vocal work. Arioch (aka Mortuus from Marduk) is easily the star of the show with his incredible vocals.

A prophet's charisma and a general's commanding voice... Put these two attributes into the mind of a possessed man and you'll get Arioch's vocal style. His thundering voice combined with impressive lyrics makes his performance one of the best ones this unholy genre have seen in the last decade. There are many memorable moments in Salvation when it comes to the vocal work: The diabolical beginning of "Breathing Wounds", The inspiring chorus of "Holy Poison", Arioch's furious commands in "Across The Qliphoth" and those are just some examples among many. Sometimes the wall of noise is caused by the vocals that overlap each other giving the album an even more chaotic vibe. Choirs are also a very special feature with the best example being "Circle Of Eyes", the album's longest song that is a bit simple in songwriting but the choir evokes an atmosphere that is so hypnotic that you won't be bored.

One of the biggest reasons to why this album might be hard to get into is the production. It's very raw and loud so it might be a turn off but people with trained ears will pass through the offensive wall of noise and listen to the great musicanship. I have to admit that sometimes I'd like this album to have a cleaner production because there are some excellent riffs (like in "Perdition's Light") but the production makes the melodies sound a bit blurry. But as usual, this production adds to the surreal and pitch-black atmosphere so it's hard to complain.

If you like your black metal to be intelligent and "in-your-face", search no more and listen to this rare pearl until your ears bleed!

"For your blindness gives me sight, as your darkness is for me light!"


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 9
Production: 8

Written by X-Ray Rod | 22.02.2010




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 11   Visited by: 169 users
22.02.2010 - 20:14
Lucas
Mr. Noise
Nice one man. Especially "A prophet's charisma and a general's commanding voice..."
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SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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23.02.2010 - 01:50
Rating: 9
Hamird
Lieutenant
Yes it's true.. This album is just a mindless blasturbation.. It's a very good one.
I really respect Mortuus, in fact he's is my favorite Black Metal vocalist after Attila Csihar..
And beside the great vocals the music is impressive too. I really enjoyed Sun of Hope and Realm of Plagues. Those my favorite tracks on the album..
Some other great thing about the album is mindless usage of samples for songs.. They made an impressive atmosphere when you're listening.. The best one, is what is used in Sun of Hope which is taken from The Seventh Seal film.
I guess this film is one of Mortuus (and other such Black Metal artists)' favorites. It's full of Black atmosphere and quotations in it.. (Beside the superb story/directing/actring/...)
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23.02.2010 - 13:37
Rating: 9
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Hamird on 23.02.2010 at 01:50

I really respect Mortuus, in fact he's is my favorite Black Metal vocalist after Attila Csihar..
And beside the great vocals the music is impressive too. I really enjoyed Sun of Hope and Realm of Plagues. Those my favorite tracks on the album..
Some other great thing about the album is mindless usage of samples for songs.. They made an impressive atmosphere when you're listening.. The best one, is what is used in Sun of Hope which is taken from The Seventh Seal film.


Yeah, I also admire Arioch/Mortuus for his vocal style, definitely in of my favorite BM vocalists. it's a really unique since there are many growls/low vocals but at the same time it's not for death metal, he really sounds possessed or like I hear once from a friend "like an angry soul". He shows a lot of charisma through his performance

My favorite sample is for the last song, In Manus Tuas. It's a very nice piece to listen to. It's good to see an album full of chaos but at the same time really intelligent and with great musicanship.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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24.02.2010 - 18:20
Slayer666

Hoho, congratulations on your second review, mate.
I like the review, although I don't really agree with it.
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24.02.2010 - 19:34
Rating: 9
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Slayer666 on 24.02.2010 at 18:20

Hoho, congratulations on your second review, mate.
I like the review, although I don't really agree with it.


Thanks man, I appreciate it. This will not be my last review after all, it's more exciting than I expected.
And well... even though you don't agree with it, I'm glad that you like it. We can't have a forum with the same opinions, that would be boring as hell... But I'm glad that the writing itself isn't shit, the rating is just a formality from my part since that's the only thing where I can't be as objective as I'd want to.

So, have you given the album some more spins? What do you think about it?
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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27.02.2010 - 03:22
kurotenshi

I know I'm a black cheep on this but I'm the guy cheering every time a band rerecords (or at least remasters) and old album.I can't get over the fact that this sounds like a gig recorded on a cellphone... Seriously, I know a lot of people like this stuff, to me this is, at most, a fragile aluminum fence of noise, give it a good production and you can make it a wall of brutal sound.
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27.02.2010 - 11:31
Rating: 9
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
A wall of brutal sound that is completely lifeless yes, like most of the brutal death metal bands for example

Tastes differ I guess, but I highly doubt that there will be remastered sound versions of this album as the sound is perfect for this one and I believe that all the people that are into Black Metal will agree that they've heard many bands with productions way more filthy that still sound amazing. It's mostly a matter of how the production matches the music, in this case... The production has to be raw, giving a chaotic sound.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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27.02.2010 - 18:41
Slayer666

Written by X-Ray Rod on 24.02.2010 at 19:34

Written by Slayer666 on 24.02.2010 at 18:20

Hoho, congratulations on your second review, mate.
I like the review, although I don't really agree with it.


Thanks man, I appreciate it. This will not be my last review after all, it's more exciting than I expected.
And well... even though you don't agree with it, I'm glad that you like it. We can't have a forum with the same opinions, that would be boring as hell... But I'm glad that the writing itself isn't shit, the rating is just a formality from my part since that's the only thing where I can't be as objective as I'd want to.

So, have you given the album some more spins? What do you think about it?

Uh, I'm afraid not. Lately, I just don't have the time to sit still and listen to an album from start to finish. However, I did check out the songs you mentioned as highlights again, and I think I've slightly changed my mind. I still don't see anything that awesome about it, though.
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27.02.2010 - 20:08
Rating: 9
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Slayer666 on 27.02.2010 at 18:41

I still don't see anything that awesome about it, though.


Atmosphere isn't something that everyone feels the same way, so I can understand that.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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29.04.2013 - 02:25
Rating: 9
MandoMikey

Awesome album, agree about the vocal, truly demonic. Dont have a problem with the production, i think it suits it fine. The samples are also really cool on this album. far prefer this to their next release.
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In a sane world as it should be, and it wont be for a while, we'll do away with capital and pay for things with smiles.
In a sane world as it should be, however slim the chances, we'll do away with capital and pay for things with dances.
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14.05.2017 - 01:25
Maco
Pvt Funderground
The best Swedish BM album. The level of evilness here is something uncommon in the BM sub-genre, specially when your lyrical themes are completely generic and predictable (Satan here, Satan there, Satan for all).
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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