Death Metal from Hellas – Part II: Funeral Revolt – Burial (1992)

(suggested track listening: ”Fly Beyond”, ”Concealment of Truth”)

For the second installment in our series, we proceed north from Athens to the city of Edessa (Central Macedonia), home of another early proponent of Hellenic DM: Funeral Revolt. Like Horrified in the previous article, the band was formed in 1989 and released two demo tapes before setting up a deal with Black Power Records for the release of a 12” EP. Lackluster cover art notwithstanding, Burial proved to be the band’s strongest statement and offers up three tracks of well-written, old school death metal along with two complementary instrumental pieces.

Stylistically, Funeral Revolt could be roughly likened to contemporary continental acts such as Consuming Impulse-era Pestilence – if filtered through the distinctly Greek approach to atmosphere (yes, keyboards are employed, and quite effectively as well). There’s a good chunk of thrash metal à la Destruction residing in the song DNA – most notable in terms of riffing and rhythmic cadence. Songwriting, however, avoids the predictability and ”obviousness” of thrash metal by contrasting aggression with more ambience-inducing and melodically poignant parts – forming narrative arcs held intact by so-called budget riffs. Despite the sometimes abrupt character of the music, it maintains fluidity throughout the EP. The band also makes excellent use of thought-through lead guitar to create a sense of climaxing revelation on tracks like ”Fly Beyond” and ”Concealment of Truth”.

Following the release of Burial, Funeral Revolt gravitated even closer to the atmospheric style of death metal embraced by many of their countrymen, as can be heard on the third demo Γαία Υπερφιάλων Αθεμιστών (1994). An interesting release on its own, but perhaps too brief to really make a kind lasting statement. A full-length album was eventually released in 2005 entitled ”The Perfect Sin”, but by then the band had jumped the shark and gone down the route of industrial/gothic melodrama. A tragic end to a band with potential greatness.