Funereus - Demo 1992

Funereus - Demo 1992
1) Ascension of the Infernal Sephiroth
2) Into the Autumn Shade

Zippyshare / Mega

It's xmas eve and time to end my little advent Coven folly, (almost) daily posting feels too much like work. And what better way to do so than with some funeral death/doom? Recently comrade Cyclades approached me with some contributions and this is the first of them, the 1992 demo by Funereus from New Jersey USA. Funereus is kind of a pre-Evoken but about that more little later. There's no cover unfortunately, I found a semi-decent one online but wouldn't mind a full scan. As a side note, Cyclades believes this demo was spread more by Nick Orlando (who continued on with Evoken and Funebrarum which would explain why a track from this demo ended up as a bonus track on "Quietus" re-release with Peaceville), much of it via tape trading.

So you noticed I said kind of pre-Evoken? Well, here's some background, I quote more or less directly what Cyclades wrote me. Rob Robichaud and Phil Wilson originally came from an oddly named band called Cartilage Ripper that was around circa 1988 to 1990 and apparently played insane death/grind like Nuclear Death and Prophecy of Doom. Nick Orlando came from the group Putrifact, which at other times also included Craig Pillard from Incantation. He formed the band along with Robichaud, trying out a bunch of local musicians, including guys who shortly afterward went on to be in other local groups like Deteriorot and Ceremonium. After a while they recruited drummer Vince Verkay, from a band called Body of Christ, which included Bill Venner who would form Disma many years later. They recorded a bunch of stuff in the spring/summer of '92, spread the recordings and went into a studio that autumn to record tracks for an EP. However it didn't go too well because the studio guys had no idea how to record something so extreme (typical story from back then!) and they basically got disgusted and took a break. Wilson left, and then they reformed as just a trio under the name of Asmodeus with new material, and recorded something around the spring of '93. This was the real "pre-Evoken", as much of the early Evoken stuff is said to originate from this period, whereas Funereus was really an earlier and quite different sounding group. Then, Robichaud left and the band almost broke up for good, but they managed to continue on, eventually became Evoken, and the rest is history as they say!

Ok, that was a lot of names dropped, I guess it's best to say something about the music too, it's funereal death/doom metal, but much more malevolent and severe than many of the contemporaries were or Evoken would later become. There's significantly more death here, that's partially why and closest comparisons would be dISEMBOWELMENT, Lord of Putrefaction and I do hear some Thergothon in places too, but this is more intense than atmospheric and laid back. Ugh, I'm just dropping more names here, better stop and let you listen for yourselves. I'll post another Funereus recording (yes there are more than this) later, with a few more background notes. For now, enjoy some terrifying vintage death/doom.