When I first fired up this blog I had a couple of ideas about what I wanted to do. Initially I was mostly basing it off other music blogs I frequent. The idea was, thus, to mostly do reviews and such.
It didn’t take long to realize that, while I am a pretty avid consumer of new music, there just isn’t something new coming out on a regular enough basis that I want to consume and write about that it was going to be a productive writing avenue. So I started thinking about other things, and thus my 30 albums in 30 days was born, followed by some other ideas.
Then I got lazy, took over a year off from writing. This time around I decided that I wanted to have some sort of plan to what I write, and so I came up with ideas for specific days. Enter Terrific Tuesday (and a few other ideas such as New Music Monday). On Tuesdays (not promising every Tuesday, mind) it will be a chance to write about something I think is just that, terrific. Maybe an entire album, maybe a song, maybe something else. All that needs to happen is I think it is terrific. Let’s get this party started.
That’s right, we are talking Funeral Doom today. Funeral Doom is freaking terrific. At the same time, I will be the first to admit it absolutely is not for everyone. Funeral Doom takes the slower, heavier elements of Doom and turns them up to 11. No, actually, it turns them up to like 19.
First off, this is slow music. Like really, really slow. It is ponderous, with songs easily in the double digits in terms of length (some even up to 30, 60 or even 80 minutes long for a single song). There is a huge hurdle to overcome in that regard. This isn’t music that works on a casual listen. It demands time, attention, and a significant investment from the listener.
It is also heavy, in the most literal sense of the word. Funeral Doom is akin to having more and more weight added to your back, weighing you down minute after minute. Harsh vocals abound, often addressing equally weighty topics. Again, not for the casual listener. This isn’t feel good music.
But it is cathartic. So, so cathartic.
Some people get that. Others don’t, and that’s okay. But for those of us who appreciate the power of music to take us on mental and emotional journeys, Funeral Doom fits that bill. Sure, it may be like being run through a meat grinder. But coming out the other side, there has been some sort of release. For me it is often a huge release of tension or anxiety I have been holding in. Through the weight of the music, these elements are pressed right out of me.
And the relief that can come in that catharsis is beautiful and often so welcome. And terrific.
Middle Aged Metalhead 