Somber salutations gloomers and doomers! The ides of March shall soon descend upon us. Which means, in this hemisphere of the globe, winter is thawing. Alas, the beloved cold is fading away. Bur fret not! Funeral Doom Friday has arrived to extend offerings of the coldest music we can find. Today, enjoy some fresh jams from Majestic Downfall, Aphonic Threnody, and Gravkväde.
Majestic Downfall
Sit back and relax. This will take a while. The mighty Majestic Downfall have launched the track”Roberta,” the opening number from their upcoming album AORTA. AORTA will emerge from the cavernous depths on May 21 via Majestic Downfall vocalist Jacobo Córdova’s own Personal Records label. (Quick side note: Check out their recent and upcoming releases. You won’t regret it.)
Clocking in at nearly 20 minutes, “Roberta” is a leviathan lament that commands your complete attention. Jacobo Córdova’s harrowing howls attack the listener over thick, rumbling bass tones. It’s an intimate, poignant, grief-stricken song that seems to serve as a eulogy for a deceased loved one.
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Aphonic Threnody
Less than a year after the colossal The Great Hatred (released in October 2020), Aphonic Threnody have exhumed another morsel of funerary delight. The new album, The All Consuming Void, will be out April 23. Destined to be a very special diadem in Aphonic Threnody’s discography, The All Consuming Void features funeral doom alumni Daniel Neagoe (Clouds, Mourners, ex-Eye Of Solitude) on vocals and Val Atra Niteris (Frowning, Ad Cinerem) on drums.
In advance of the new album’s release, Aphonic Threnody are streaming the track “Restless.” This song brings to the table everything a funeral doom fan could want. Low, deep, tormented vocals. Bleak, haunting Gregorian-chant cleans. But Justin Butler (guitars) and Riccardo Veronese (guitars, bass, keys) deserve credit where credit is due. The eerie melody and atmosphere in this track will make you want to weep. Even without reading the lyrics, you’ll feel this song in your gut. It may shred your heartstrings, but isn’t that what good art should do?
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Gravkväde
Hot on the heels of 2020’s woebegone wonder GRAV|RUIN (read our review here), our friends in Gravkväde are digging up one of their biggest influences. On their latest EP GRAV|VIND, they recorded a cover of Darkthrone’s “En Vind av Sorg.” “En Vind av Sorg” originally appeared on Darkthrone’s 1995 classic Panzerfaust. Gravkväde’s take on the song nearly triples its length. It’s a numbingly cold cover that chills the soul to its core. Regarding the track, Gravkväde said, “This song holds a special place in our hearts and has given us great inspiration since the very beginning of Gravkäde. A colder song can not be found and we consider it to be a true masterpiece of black metal. Our ambition with this cover was to blend the harshness and evil of Darkthrone with the doom and anguish of Gravkväde. We were so satisfied with the results that we decided to share it.”
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