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Surely,
I looked at the photograph in the back of the vinyl
sleeve and immediately thought And Then You Fucking Die
Man was a reissue from a pretty unknown thrash metal or
a crossover band from the late 80’s. I know I shouldn’t
judge a book by its cover, or a band by their hairdos
and attire, but somehow I was almost right. Almost.
Had I not
gotten informed, I would have taken the bait. Get into this
record and realize that it not only looks the part, it also
sounds the part. There is nothing fat or super heavy about
Funerot. There is no technology in it, there is nothing shiny or
plastic about it. There is actually nothing from the last two
decades in this record. Except of course, some sort of vantage
point in history (from the early 70’s up until the birth of
thrash and some early West Coast punk) that enables them to
separate what’s good from what’s not. And Then You Fucking Die
Man rocks like it was written in the 70’s and sounds like it was
recorded in an English barn in the same decade. And I say that
with total respect.
Funerot hail
from Olympia, Washington and recorded this, their second
full-length, in May of 2009. The tones are (I am sick of the
word organic I know I overuse it, but there is no better way to
describe this) organic and natural and yeah, very 70’s. I
guess, none of these guitarists are big fans of modern pedal effects
as the distortion is kept to a minimum which gives the songs
certain rough lightness and rustic clarity. When I say lightness, do not
mean that these songs are fleeting. Far from it, they are all
very melodic and incredibly enjoyable. And the effect is
long lasting
The pace is
light too with riffs that swift through like a cross between a
very basic NWOBHM band and a hardcore band with two guitar solo
addicts. There are several guitar duels here, which turns these
great songs into outstanding tunes. Think of Black Flag with
more subdued versions of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson on the
strings. So the hardcore is very present here, especially in the
vocals of Max Gorbman who is pretty much an under control
screamer.
There is no
other way around it. This is the best record I have heard in a
long time. The formula is so basic, so good, so classic, it is
fundamental and elemental. Not that I wish to crash their
private party but if there were more bands playing it like Funerot
the world would be a better place.
Vinyl Rules!
Official Site
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