Funereus - Into the Autumn Shade demo 1992

Funereus - Into the Autumn Shade demo 1992
1) Intro - Commence the Rites of Burial
2) Into the Autumn Shade
3) Interlude - Among the Whispering Spirits
4) Ascension of the Infernal Sephiroth
5) Outro - Eternal Judgement

Rusfolder / Yandex

Our journeys take us now overseas from Norway, but unlike the vikings we're not making stops at Iceland or Greenland this time, instead heading straight for USA and resume where I left off in December with Funereus and their demo '92. With another demo '92! Confused? Don't be, these are two different recordings, this one made in June and the other in July and were both spread by different band members, this one by Rob Robichaud. And seeing how it is less known I'd assume in smaller quantities than the one known just as Demo 1992. It's probably pointless to try to call one demo I and another II since the timeframe is somewhat vague. As my contributor Cyclades wrote: "...what happened then is that different guys in the band chose various recordings from these sessions and kind of spread them around independently in an informal way. Thus, we get two different demos from a mere month apart featuring similar (but subtly different) material." For further background details read the old post, thanks again to C for the rips and information!

Let's speak about the content then, as seen the "main course" consists again of the same two long songs, served with an intro, interlude and outro which I think serve well to build the atmosphere. Which is, as in the other demo, morbid and heavy. The sound here is a little bit less clean but that just adds a touch of otherworldliness to the music and I must say I prefer this recording personally. The end result isn't as severe as Demo 1992 was but more unearthly and atmospheric. Another notable difference is that "Ascension..." is a longer version here with a fast part in the end that was later left off. Speaking of versions, Cyclades had this story to share about the title track's... well, title, and history: "The title/lyrics date back to 1990, at the tail end of Cartilage Ripper, when it seems they had slowed down into a more doomy entity. It was then apparently brought over for Funereus, which is the version you are listening to now. They then used the title again (but with totally different music) in Asmodeus, which eventually became the version from the first Evoken release, even through Robichaud was long gone at that point. Then even later, Ceremonium used it as the title of their first album!" Ceremonium was a New York death/doom band whose original members Oscar Matter and Victor Rivera (who had also been in Putrifact with Orlando) were good friends with the Funereus guys and apparently hung around at all of their recording sessions. Actually the name sharing dates earlier as their rehearsal '93 already features a track titled "Into the Autumn Shade" which then reappears on the '95 album. Well, it's not as wild as the use of "Tormentor" back in the 80's!

Enough talk, download this if you're into funeral doom, the other Funereus demo or Evoken. Recommended and hopefully the Asmodeus recordings also eventually surface.