If any season is the right one for Doom/Death, it has to be autumn, doesn’t it? The sunlight is fading, the skies – to be frank – are right now full of rain clouds and the temperature has dropped. Leaves litter the concrete roads like so much discarded refuse. Misery abounds.
So it’s fitting to listen to Marche Funebre’s latest album, “After The Storm”, which might just be a perfect aural companion to all things autumnal. I didn’t know much about the Belgian crew behind this platter, but it’s been 15 years since they first put out an EP, and this is their fifth album. Right off the bat, “In A Haze” is a slice of quality. So, for sure this has a leaden pace as you’d expect, but it has (very pleasant) influences from Paradise Lost, and in particular the excellent melodies that bring to mind “Icon”.
Most of the songs here weigh in over the seven-minute mark, with second track “Palace of Broken Dreams” escaping that by just a couple of seconds. Really, the entire record has some great songs on them. Whilst the second number is probably the closest to all-out Paradise Lost worship (circa Draconian Times, which isn’t a bad thing), there are a host of other hints as to the band’s listening. The gravity of My Dying Bride, the class of Saturnus.
Yet there’s enough here of the band to carve their own identity. If I were to put a finger on what makes Marche Funèbre unique, I’d say that firstly they’re incredibly heavy when they put the pedal to the metal; the hoarse voiced vocals are some of the most aggressive I’ve heard from the genre. They’ve got a very keen ear for melody – the axe work here is really sublime at times, and with some tasteful keyboards here and there to spice things up. There’s also a tremendous low-section at work here, with restrained but never less than impressive playing.
Production wise, they’ve gone with Martin Furia, who some of you may know from his work with Destruction and Nervosa. He clearly knows how to get the very best out of the band; this is a very dynamic record. There’s clarity and space to breathe when the music is delicate, but when it gets properly in-your-face, he manages to bring the heaviness to bare.
At six songs, even with the length of them, I was still left wanting more. It’s not always that I can say that – but Marche Funèbre have produced something that’s really impressive here. If you’re a fan of the Peaceville Three, this is an album that you’re going to enjoy…
(8/10 Chris Davison)
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