Finally, the weekend is upon us. What better way to kick it off than with the latest installment of "Funeral Doom Friday". For those who are new to this column; each week features a new or classic album from the realm of extreme doom. Much of funeral/death doom's might comes from an oppressive emotional weight and the use of death or black metal motifs (played at a trudging pace, of course.) Pioneers like Mournful Congregation, Evoken, and Esoteric have mastered this blend of dirge and destruction. For 25 years, they have methodically built compositions that stretch for dozens of minutes all while keeping fans enthralled. Time has elapsed since the days of Thergothon and much like the world around us, the genre has evolved. Today's modern bands contort the very construct of the genre, breeding darkly refreshing new work. Their work thankfully gives this column plenty of material to share.
Enjoy this week's post and check out prior features here. Feel free to also share thoughts or suggestions for future installments in the comments section below
I thought it would be a nice change of pace to switch up how the column works this week. As you can tell, I have already broken into the first person and I am using way too many pronouns. So this week I want to hear from you all. There have been a number of times in the past where my friends and I have broken down into the "Mount Rushmore" debate. Who belongs on the Mount Rushmore of (insert category here). You pick your subjective top four that would make up The recent one that happened between us was "The Mount Rushmore of Basketball". Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Bill Russell, and Magic Johnson are mine right now in case anyone was wondering. It could change at any moment.
However, this got me thinking about music. I tried it with a few different genres and I thought it a great idea to open it to the masses when it comes to Funeral Doom. So, below there is a poll with 20 options that include many old and some new talents. You can pick up to a maximum of four favorite choices (Mount Rushmore, duh.) If there is anything I missed, add it in the comments section. I will try to add it into the poll. My four currently includes Esoteric, Mournful Congregation, Evoken, and Skepticism. Feel free to argue me on it. Happy voting!
