Funerals from the Astral Sphere is up there with Ash Borer's self-titled and Shadows by Embers as one of the best black metal releases of the year. This is a two-disc album clocking in at over two hours long and yet it doesn't get boring for one minute, which makes it even more impressive. This album is drenched in atmosphere and ambiance with subtle melodies and folk influences throughout. Really impressive stuff.
Atmospheric symphonic black metal amongst the finest, and within the genre, one of the best releases of 2011. The melodies are almost never stagnant. Haze filled riffs build and descend with synths. Various folk-like elements sprout up from time to time, all within context of the albums purose; a grand journey through a world that is filled with imaginative arts and colors. Truly a superb release worth checking by any lover of music and especially bm, folk, and classical fans.
it's a good album, and it doesn't necessarily get boring through its runtime but the moments that make you say "wow, this is really good" are too far and few between. it doesn't really harbor the hypnotic feeling to feel like it doesn't drag on and several of the tracks here could have been cut down or cut completely to make a one-disc album and it probably would have benefited from it. some of the atmospheres feel great but a lot of them sound really forced, the reverb-soaking just veiling very average keyboards. again, it's not bad, but could have been a lot better. :]
