The only thing that's boringly standard black metal affair on this debut full length by Sweden's enigmatic Funeral Mist is the band's aesthetics and lyrics. Oh, and blastbeats, which is still the word of the day on this album. But if you've read any of my reviews so far, you're probably figuring out that one of my favourite things in life is when artists take risks and get adventurous with their sound. But it has to pay off, or it just ends up sounding really insincere and kinda lame. Funeral Mist, who've been around since 1993 apparently (but waited ten years to put out a full length), were very adventurous on Salvation, playing around with the conventional sounds of black metal. And it paid off, big time.
Right off the bat this album always tricks me into turning up my volume, only to have my ears blasted off when the first song Agnus Dei really kicks in. Aside from that, one of the first things you might notice on this album is the vocalist, Arioch, who also fronts Swedish black metallers Marduk under the name Mortuus. While he does vocal duties for both bands, he also mans the guitar and bass for Salvation. Arioch's style is one of the most distinct in the genre, probably the most recognizable voice next to Attila Csihar of Mayhem fame, and his snarling vocals are disgustingly awesome. His voice fits well with the cold, dark and ceremoniously evil feel of Salvation, an aesthetic that is further heightened by creepy movie samples, gregorian chants, a cold and lifeless (in a good zombie movie kind of way) guitar tone and an eerie violin played as the closer of the album.
If that all sounds like the most stereotypical description of a black metal album you've ever heard, you're not wrong. Salvation doesn't do much to change the genre itself, but it does use the tried and true conventions to venture into some interesting territory. Sure, there are lots of blastbeats; but where the album really shines is when the drums suddenly slow down to a simplistic 4/4 beat with the guitars continuing to tremolo pick their way into oblivion, which results in a terrifying death march kind of sound. This structure happens quite a bit, but never ends up sounding stale. Funeral Mist took this idea even further on their fantastic sophomore album (and one of my favourite black metal albums ever) Maranatha, along with many of the other elements that made Salvation a great black metal record.
One song that I thought kind of held this album back was the rather self-indulgent Circle of Eyes. At nearly 13 minutes long, it doesn't do much to keep my attention. And it definitely doesn't measure up to the album closer In Manus Tuas, the second longest song on the album at 12:27. But overall, Salvation is a great listen if you're in the mood for something that sounds amazingly evil. And it's a good precursor of Funeral Mist's fantastic sophomore album, which I hope I will get the chance to review soon.
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