Funeral Goat - Mass Ov Perversion
Daemon Worship Productions

file under black/pagan metal

Neithan: It was a pity that Dutch Sauron called it a day, yet understandable. Two members of that band, singer/ guitarist Herr Aids and drummer Ludas, have now released a debut album under the name of Funeral Goat with the title ‘Mass Of Perversion’. It is different from Sauron, yet I do think that those who loved Sauron wil have their way with Funeral Goat as well: the band plays an old school form of death/ black metal, including the old school Satanist image, which is received very well in the underground. As a matter of fact, on ‘Mass Of Perversion’ we are taken back to the roots of the two musicians that form this band.

Funeral Goat: a cliché name which fits only to genuine old school death/ black bands in the vein of cult acts like War, Blasphemy and in the slower passages Hellhammer. In such matters a cliché name is only fitting if the music is right, and it is. The band plays that old school music which is only cherished by a small number of diehard underground fans, and as such I don’t think this scene will ever make it to a larger audience. On the other hand, I think musicians in this corner of the genre will care less…
With the subtlety of a shovel overrunning a Dixi-toilet at a festival site the band, aided on occasions by Mortifer (known from amongst other Galgeras), rage through thirteen short tracks in less than thirty three minutes. So it is obvious that we are dealing with very short songs, yet without unnecessary fillers and useless subtle breaks which would not fit to this kind of music anyway. Yet to prevent the album from becoming a sonic blur, the two gentlemen manage to drop in slow passages at the right spots in the running order to avoid becoming bored. As such, the ultra heavy and slow ‘Conjuration’ and the band’s title track ‘Funeral Goat’ (my favorite on this album) are fine examples.

In a genre without renewal it all comes down to the way it is done, the attitude and the overall production (a sound like the early eighties with its noisy demos is not acceptable these days anymore): Funeral Goat understands this very well, and by doing so I must admit that the band obviously stands above the average level of the masses. In that way, ‘Mass Of Perversion’ has become a fine album to those who believe that the scene has not yielded anything interesting and furious enough for like fifteen years or so…

Rating: 80/100 (details)

http://www.myspace.com/funeralgoat