Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for FVNERALS - Let the Earth Be Silent (2023)

Another one of my MA Radio playlist discoveries, Fvnerals latest album has been on repeatedly in my house for pretty much all of April.  I am partial to a bit of dark ambient you see and Fvnerals (like Wolveserpent) have found a suitable balance between immersive cold ambience and densely suffocating doom that just ticks plenty of boxes for me.  I have spent much time just letting the album wash over me whilst doing pretty much nothing else.  It is an album that serves a dual purpose in the sense that I can have it on as background music or utilise its depth for a more connected and personal experience.

The haunting vocals of Tiffany Ström are perfect alongside the gazey atmospheres and doom soaked passages.  Seemingly at home in any scenario that her and fellow band member Syd Scarlet can concoct between them, Tiffany's vocal chords offer a cold and ethereal attraction that although is devoid of positivity or optimism is still utterly addictive.  Add in to the mix some feedback seeping guitars and cavernous percussion and Fvnerals soon start to create dense layers of murky and absorbing music.  Even when the focus is more on the instrumentation (as with the powerful Rite) it is hard not to engage with the efforts here.

Although impressive enough, I still do not believe there is enough here for top marks as there is still a tendency as you swim through Let the Earth Be Silent to find yourself treading water in the same channels for significant periods of time, with only a sudden wave of unexpected vocal direction to sweep you into new tidal paths.  That having been said, this is still a monolithic undertaking that strikes enough of a chord with me to get itself a healthy four star rating.