Review Summary: Pure Holocaust Black Metal from the Depths of Sweden!
Funeral Mist hail from Stockholm, Sweden and have been in existence since 1993. It seems as though these guys don't release albums that often considering Salvation, this album, was their first full length record after forming 10 years earlier. Prior albums include a couple demos and an EP Devilry released in 1998. The line up for Salvation was Arioch on guitars, bass, and vocals, Nachash on guitars, and Necromorbus on drums. Onto what makes Salvation an excellent black metal cd that everyone should check out.
First off, the album is recorded in a pure, raw fashion like any old school black metal album. The guitars sound tinty, fuzzy, and metallic, the bass is almost non-existent, but is still audible, and the drums sound like they were recorded in a warehouse with the vocals. Salvation starts off with "Agnus Die," the sound of people screaming for their lives as satan himself chants evil words. Then, the volume cranks up to a high pitch scream into blistering drums and fast tremolo guitars. This is a solid start to the record as the guitars and drums dominate this song with it's speed. "Breathing Wounds," the next song on the record, is another standout track that starts out really fast, the vocals really make this song powerful and aggressive. "Holy Poison" and "Sun of Hope" have more diversity to the songs as it starts off fast like the other tracks, but then introduces a nice mid-tempo pace over the dark, cold riffs. Which is an aspect of black metal that I find to be enjoyable. "Perdition of Light" has a great melodic guitar line that plays throughout the song, it is as cold and memorable as any other great black metal guitar line. Two rarieties ("Circles of Eyes" and "In Manuas Tuas") that do end up on this record are songs that are over the 12 minute mark. Do they keep you attention throughout the whole song? Why yes, they do, if you just like atmospheric sounds without too much variation involved in the arrangements. "Circles of Eyes" throws in church chants, which seems to be a common theme on the record, over melodic guitars. Vocals are sporadic, but kind of in the background of the music. "In Manuas Tuas" ends this album with evil guitar melodies, fast tremelo picking, and pure chaos for about 6 minutes. The last 6 minutes is an eerie outro used with violins and bass, horns, woodwinds, which sounds like it would in an Alfred Hitchcock movie or some horror movie from the 50s.
So, I don't keep reiterating myself, every song on this record is fast with your occasional mid-paced grim-down. The drums, the guitars, and the overall sound of the record is as Immortal said it best, pure holocaust. For fans of old school black metal, this album is definitely worth checking out. Standout tracks include "Breathing Wounds," "Holy Poison," "Perdition's Light," and "In Manuas Tuas."
