Funeral For A Friend - See You All In Hell
Welsh post-hardcore quintet Funeral For A Friend have released a new 9-track EP this week as an add-on to their recent full-length Welcome Home Armageddon.
See You All In Hell is more of a mini-album than strictly an EP, featuring a Strife cover, live sessions, acoustic tracks and a remix of tracks from the full album.
Whilst this is a nice addition to the band's catalogue for the hardcore fanatic, the majority of it won't be of interest to the casuaul fan.
The Live at XFM versions don't really offer a great deal - all we have here is slightly rougher versions of four ablum tracks that already have a great amount of energy.
In contrast, the LoveGadgetsHatesGizmos remix of 'Medicated' is an interesting take on the song, similar to the Haunts remix of 'Into Oblivion (Reunion)' from Your History Is Mine 2002 - 2009.
Where the EP proves itself worthy of a purchase, however, is the remainder of its tracklisting, made up of two acoustic tracks, a cover and a brand new song.
The later ('High Castles') opens the EP in a big way, perfectly showcasing the gritty energy driving FFAF's most recent evolution in sound.
Similarly, their raw cover of Strife's 'Will To Die' draws on the quintet's hardcore roots, capturing the energy of the original.
Funeral For A Friend have always done well in their more tender moments like 'Your Revolution Is A Joke' and acoustic versions of 'The Art of American Football' amongst others.
It's not at all surprising, then, that the stripped down versions of 'Old Hymns' and 'Welcome Home Armageddon' offer an incredible amount of emotion to close the record.
The first (excluding introduction track 'This Side of Brightness') and last songs on Welcome Home Armageddon, both songs are given a new-found raw emotion in this form.
Stripped back without the heavy production or reliance on riffs, the shows show a surprisingly tenderness and beauty, rounding off an EP that, when it comes down to it, does well to show the different sides of Funeral For A Friend.
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Check back tomorrow for our interview with Kris and Ryan.
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