Generally, on a chilly and depressing winter night, if you haven’t been outdoors for a number of days as a result of Lockdown 3.Zero and work sucks since you haven’t been to the workplace or seen any of your colleagues for 11 months and you actually desire a beer or 5 however can’t since you determined to not drink for January for some rattling idiot purpose and… properly, anyway, you get the image. On these kinds of evenings, generally what you want is an ice-cold sliver of uncooked, lo-fi black steel. And in that state of affairs, the place do you naturally flip? Chile. In fact, Chile which… wait, what?

Funeral Fullmoon is a one-man black steel mission popping out of Chile’s Valparaíso Area. The one man in query, who is way too kvlt to have a Fb web page or web site, is presently going beneath the moniker of Magister Nihilifer Vendetta 218. In different acts, like Sacred Veil, for which he performed bass and keyboards, he went beneath the guise of Magus Xem Deitus. Revelation of Evil is the primary full-length from Funeral Fullmoon, following an EP and a cut up with labelmates Wampyric Rites, which each got here out in 2020. Technically, so did Revelation of Evil however because it was a cassette-only launch, I’m fairly assured the one one that heard it can have been Diabolus in Muzaka. I believe he would even have appreciated it. Funeral Fullmoon majors in mid-paced, second wave-style black steel. Regardless of the uncooked, lo-fi sound on present at a floor degree, this factor is a DR 9 and, with a good set of cans clamped on, surprisingly wealthy for all its frost-bitten evilness.

Thematically, we’re very a lot within the vampires, darkish woods, and evil spirits camp however, beneath the run-of-the-mill style tropes, there’s a surprisingly first rate piece of uncooked black steel right here. Very a lot within the mould of Transylvanian Starvation-era Darkthrone or Isengard, Revelation of Evil is all ominous and icy tremolos, shifting between slower, doom-tinged menace (“Below the Shining Moon”) and all-out, livid assault (“The Whispers of a Darkish Lifeless”). Behind the mic, Magister feels like somebody who has simply swallowed a tin of razor blades, washed down with a chaser of crushed glass, as he rasps, gargles and shrieks his means by means of the album. The title observe is the clear star attraction right here, because the frantic tremolo introduce a genuinely melodic edge to Revelation of Evil, which regularly offers approach to a stripped again, distorted dissonance that crawls ahead, with a grimy sheen to it.

For what it’s, which is an unrepentantly nostalgic piece of second-wave black steel drawing closely on that scene’s Norwegian founders, Revelation of Evil is basically good. It has a nasty, chilly edge to the guitar and the bass offers a wealthy layer beneath the frosty floor, whereas Magister’s harsh vocals embody the evil spirits he’s attempting to seize. To me, nonetheless, Funeral Fullmoon suffers from not less than two drawbacks. Each are, I feel, inherent to the type however I acknowledge one is extra a private dislike. First, by sticking pretty scrupulously to the second wave mould as Funeral Fullmoon does, there’s a restrict to how inventive or memorable it may possibly sound, even when properly written, as Revelation of Evil is. Secondly, that very skinny, lo-fi drum sound that for some purpose characterizes the type — the place I image drummers furiously hammering at skins made of barely damp leather-based — simply does nothing for me (however I’m conscious and acknowledge that it is a private style factor).

Revelation of Evil is a simple however well-written piece of uncooked black steel. Full of ambiance and evil, but in addition tinged with melody and mixing up the pacing, Funeral Fullmoon’s tremolos are enjoyable, if not vastly unique. In the event you’re a fan of early Darkthrone and friends, then this needs to be up your alley. In the event you’re not, this album shouldn’t be going to vary your thoughts.

Ranking: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Inferna Profundus Information
Web sites: infernaprofundusrecords.bandcamp.com/album/revelation-of-evil
Launch Date: January 18th, 2021