Band:	The Ethereal
Album:	From Funeral Skies
Style:	Funeral doom metal
Release date:	November 2002

01. Beyond All Dreams
02. Your Creation
03. Wish
04. From Funeral Skies [Re-Release bonus]

Well, it seems that Stijn van Caute (Until Death Overtakes Me) is one of the most vivid musicians in the funeral doom metal scene the last years and he's got a lot to offer with his ideas. Apparently, Until Death Overtakes Me were not enough for him and he stroke once again during 2005 with his other project, The Ethereal.

The fans of the band should not expect something new simply because Stijn managed to re-release 2002's "From Funeral Skies" with a bonus track. To tell the truth i wouldn't die for The Ethereal' music, but "From Funeral Skies" is, generally speaking, a very promising offering, but definitely not something ground-breaking and innovative.

Ultra slow and utterly heavy funeral doom is what lies in the soundscapes of "From Funeral Skies" and it gets so slow at times that you really don't know how to escape since you feel like suffocating and slowly drowning in quicksand. The guitars are more than heavily distorted and they move slower than the pace of a funeral march for sure, sometimes though they seem to fasten up, within the limits of the slowest funeral doom bands of course, so don't expect something drastic. The sound of the guitars has a funeral and mourning tone in terms of the emotions it evokes strengthening the overall nihilistic atmosphere that reigns supreme through the simplicity of "From Funeral Skies". The role of the rhythm section is simply accompanying, just to keep the tempo at the slowest possible level. The percussion's sound is really bombastic, lending an ultra powerful feeling to the songs making your body shiver. Well, the vocals are grunting and very deep and it seems as if they have escaped from the core of the earth offering an unearthly interpretation that is lurking in the air like a nightmare invades your night-time. A good addition that breaks the monotony at times is the simplistic and distressing use of the piano and the keyboards, but don't expect to meet them in this funeral journey too often.

"From Funeral Skies", as I said above, won't offer something new and it won't lead the scene to innovative paths. It's something moving in your typical ultra slow/heavy funeral doom soundscapes, a really interesting release, but nothing ground-shaking that will make you tremble from happiness for the masterpiece you just beheld.