Review Summary: Welcome back lads!
Funeral For A Friend - Welcome Home Armageddon
Welcome back lads!
In a quick return to form, emo legends; Funeral For A Friend, have released an album of post-hardcore....but with a big fat metal cock.
Throughout the 11 tracks, there's melody in abundance, but with a rejuvenated youthful vigour that hasn't been seen since their 2003 full length debut "Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation".
It sounds like FFAF are having fun again. The guitar parts are a major sign of this; new guitarist (ex bassist) Gavin Burrough and Kris Roberts, running riot upon the fretboard like crazy hamsters jacked up on speed.
There's metalcore riffage with tunes such as "Spinning Over The Island" and "Man Alive". Theres stomach crushing riffs like that of; "Front Row Seats To The End Of The World". But theres also, widdly lead lines such as that in; "Old Hymns", and a ***load of pop punk bounce in; "Sixteen".
New bassist; Richard Boucher, has also slid seamlessly into the fray, doing his job absolutely perfectly. Well done sir!
Ryan Richards (Drums), is the star of the album, supplying a solid backbone for the guitars and bass to hold to, but also bringing his controlled screams back into the sound. His vocals rip the songs apart, destructively and excitingly, introducing some actual danger again. Its a refreshing change from the Coldplay/U2 cross-hybrids of Tales Don't Tell Themselves and Memory And Humanity.
Highlights include the 'infectiously-catchy-after-4+-listens' "Sixteen", which boasts a pop punk simplicity that destroys anything released by All Time Low or Youmeatsix over the past 5 years, and the heavy-as-*** "Broken Foundation" which sounds like Finch having an orgy with Bullet For My Valentine in the spastic, chorus-based bravado of the 80s.
The rest of the album deviates between balls-out melody and epic, metallic brutality. The main downside is that it sounds samey throughout; Matt Davies vocals getting quite tiring after a while. Same melodies, same sound, same pseudo-complex choruses.
But at the same time, this aspect of the tracks works as a strength, because it holds the album down with a cohesive flow, that brings it more into the present day, than any of their releases over the past 8 years.
Overall, its refreshing to hear a band finding their pulse again, and waking from the pretentious stupor that kept them underneath the radar for so many years.
FFAF are back with a bang!
8/10
Leo Troy
Must hear:
Old Hymns, Front Row Seats To The End Of The World, Sixteen, Broken Foundation
For fans of: Bullet For My Valentine, From Autumn To Ashes, Senses Fail, Finch
