Funebrarum – Beckoning The Void of Eternal Silence
Release Date: 29th May 2026
Label: Pulverised Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Old School Death Metal, Death Doom, Grind.
FFO: Abhorrence, Bolt Thrower, Demigod, Incantation, Autopsy, Vastum.
Review By: Rick Farley
The old school death metal resurgence is so abundant these days that it’s become nearly cliché. At every corner there’s a band whose current blueprint for modern music was already written and released so many years ago. Sadly, this has proven to produce some mixed results to say the least with fans claims of certain bands jumping on the bandwagon. So many legendary bands have released iconic albums and the thought that those albums can be reproduced the same or better years later does seem a tad bold. Now I realize in many cases it’s simply the music these bands love and grew up listening to, but for every quality one, there is also a pretender who’s just trying to stay on the ride. I won’t name any names, but they’re fairly easy to spot in my opinion. Thankfully, there are a handful of bands/musicians that play actual old school death metal the right way, not because it’s the cool thing but because it’s what they know, and they do it authentically. New Jersey born Funebrarum by way of Scandinavia, Europe, and New York’s death metal influence is one such band that despite being just a few years late to the original party are legitimately writing and playing as if they came directly from that time period.
Funebrarum was formed in 1999 and released their crusty debut album Beneath the Columns of Abandoned in 2001, honestly, they were not that far off from the scenes glory years, so I wouldn’t exactly call them a revival band, but the difference here though is that Beckoning The Void of Eternal Silence (only the bands third full length album since forming) being released in 2026 is an ominous, cavernous behemoth worthy of the legendary time period it was meant to be from. This is authentic, classic, filthy sounding death metal with nefariously masterful solos, catchy buzzsaw riffs, stomach churning gutturals and a gnarly taste for some atmospheric death/doom mixed in with a little twisting grind. The atmospheric cement truck heaviness, the rotting groove and the shred all work together as one pulverising entity set for total domination.
Songs like the title track Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence carry a synth heavy atmosphere behind crushing double bass and melancholic, sluggish chords that ring out into the void, it sounds world ending even before it severs off into a faster moving death metal killing machine. Demonic gutturals are mixed with blood-curdling shrieks making the track maniacal as well as soul consuming with its call-and-response wickedness. The faster tempo, blast beat/double bass forward chugginess of the track is suffocating, claustrophobic and downright punishing.
Through the Barren Halls of Grieving Emptiness starts with a groovy, thick riff before bringing a little Symphonies of Sickness era Carcass grind into the mix during its verses. It stomps, snorts and pisses rotting putridity, before frenetic leadwork guide the guitars into a hook laden colossal brute drudging through the murk. The low growls just beneath the bone smashing rhythm section work in mimicking a sense of a panicked struggle to stay above the drowning sludge, causing you the horror of desperately grasping for air.
Album closer The Whispering cathedral – Epilogue is the best amalgamation of all the grime, atmosphere, and crushing heaviness on the record. The sheer magnitude of the track brings huge sounds with gothic and cinematic undertones beneath its gargantuan heft as if the abrasive beast is actually in the cathedral lumbering through the darkness looking to make the gloom stricken halls its own abattoir.
After only a few listens it’s pretty obvious that if Beckoning The Void of EternalSilence were released 25 + years ago, we would be talking about a death metal classic right now. Funebrarum is pure, authentic, and classic sounding without having to force anything. This is top tier death metal with tremendous production. Raw, dense yet atmospheric with clarity and engaging brutality. Get this immediately.
(4.5 / 5)
