Funeral For A Friend - Hours
[Atlantic Records]

The bubbling caldron of mediocrity that so many bands plunge straight into when they enter the do or die second album territory, is simply stirred then tasted like a wine connoisseur and spat out by the valley woe churners; Funeral for a Friend (FFAF). Previous single ‘Streetcar’ featuring hypnotically stampeding guitar riffs, also produces a longing feel that reaches out via Matt Davies'; Jim Lindberg colliding with Bruce Dickenson vocal range in a punk coated, post hardcore mind mauler. The near death experience that is the grunge hugging ‘Hospitality’ illuminates the bands lyrical pungency;

“So pull this switch and see my body twitch, as we dance on this memory.
Despair has devoured me whole; a seed won’t grow from this soul.”

The Welsh quintet’s emotive passion spills over into hardcore punk via the gruelling ‘Monster’ and then breaches metal territory in the bracing ‘The End Of Nothing’. Matt’s vocals take on a plaintive and meandering feel when FFAF slow things down for the thoughtfully longing ‘Alvarez’. The band’s versatility and intensity has ensured that a grippingly poignant second album cements their status, as uncompromising woe wrestlers with a heart.