Racing from the centre of the phiale’s sacrifice and through the skull of the summoner the explosive gust of netherworld-bound horrors conjured by Athens, Greece-based black metal trio FUNERAL STORM serves as a burst of familiar enlightenment, a daimonian hand reasserting its guidance on this welcomed sophomore full-length album. Enacted once again by a key triad of actors in sinister unity ‘Chthonic Invocations‘ and its rituals benefit from foundations expertly lain for their brand of authentic classics-era Hellenic black metal. The key to this release getting it right and resonating with arcane energies is less a matter of exacting sound design, though they -do- nail it, and more an act which takes some joy in bringing forth with great enthusiasm the idiosyncratic soul the medium allows for. To most it should rightfully be received as a worthy entry into the greater cult, a work for the well-indoctrinated to extract nuance and artist specific charms from.

Although Funeral Storm formed circa 2001 as the first project from Wampyrion (Karkinos, Disharmony) the true birth of the band came decades later with the first release to feature maestro Necroabyssious (Varathron, Katavasia, Zaratus, et al.) on vocals per a split mLP with Celestial Rite (‘Funeral Rite‘, 2017) which’d previewed some of the most key pieces going forward. Each of those were included and expanded on their debut LP (‘Arcane Mysteries‘, 2019) such as the triumphal mourn of “The Martyr of the Lake” which’d felt like it couldn’t been torn right from Side A of ‘Walpurgisnacht‘ in its original form. There was some notable difference between those two versions of each song, both in terms of being more fleshed out as well as the previous line-up having featured Nick Christogiannis (Deviser) on keyboards who has a somewhat different style than that of Arcania (Karkinos) who took over their keyboards and the second guitar position after 2017. ‘Arcane Mysteries‘ was an exceptional debut album which I’d rated highly in my review for the sake of its authentic Hellenic black metal style and exceptional vocal performances. Some of the songs were still rough around the edges in terms of their structure or, where the programmed drums weren’t finessed quite enough, but this was of course no major hindrance to their classic style. Much like Caedes Cruenta and Cult of Eibon their work was traditional and not intending to be outwardly transformative, endeavoring to shape this classic style without rethinking it entirely. This still generally persists today on their second full-length album.

In the interim most of the associated bands/projects received due attention despite the pandemic creating its own challenges. In the Funeral Storm front a split 7″ with the good folks in Synteleia would offer “Mistress of the Night” an earlier version of a song that’d feature prominently on Side B of this second album. As that piece had suggested, we are not escaping the early-to-mid 90’s Hellenic black metal spiritus for a moment on ‘Chthonic Invocations‘ but instead continuing to expand that universe with another exceptional ~40 minute ‘old school’ black metal album. Since the trio persists with the already well-established vision of the band there isn’t all that much to say about the overall listening experience beyond the suggestion that it is a proper follow up in most every sense, upholding and/or improving upon the standard set back in 2019 with a more concise running order.

Striking faster outright with even more persistent melodic leads while still hitting the right sort of shambling kick-along one’d want from this realm, opener “Behold the Dark” cues us into the energy of the album as a whole with its introduction to ‘Chthonic Invocations‘, wasting no time getting to the action of the record just a minute or so beyond the intro piece (“Whispers From the Beyond”). The bulk of Side A holds fast at this pace and thankfully within the same realm of mid-to-fast paced movement creating an effective opening salvo between the first three songs proper. Of the lot I’d say “Funeral Pyre” is the odd standout for its drum patternation, shaking out some variety beyond the similar pair of songs before it while “Behold the Dark” is probably the biggest, catchiest rush that this album has to offer overall and “The Void” has some particularly notable heavy metal riffs and Rotting Christ-esque leads which carry the first impression resoundingly through the first half of the album. As much as I do like the semi-throttled strike this album brings upon its approach the value of the experience ripens a bit more over on Side B for my own taste.

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! — The second half of Funeral Storm‘s vision felt to me like a step back into the Eldritch underground circa ’93-’95 more than ever as the Necromantia-esque ramping of “The Epitaph of the Dead” drones through its heat-seeking rush eventually finding a riff that they can ride through its paces for the majority of the song. Echoing wretches and pitch-shifted (?) backing points set beside a declarative command from Necroabyssious helps hold this song together by his direction but also breaks it apart when the song calls for some extra ancient madness applied to its rambling-through aspirations otherwise. This feels authentic enough but it is “The Covenant of Old” that finally opens up the scope of this style and their version of it, lyrics and all, and starts to ramp up rhythmic interest which then carries through the aforementioned “Mistress of the Night (The Gathering Begins)”. Just after the peak there is a bit of a fall, though, as the only gripe I’d bring to the table here is with closing piece “The Calling of the Father” as a purely interstitial acts which is a functional movement yet a non-statement considering the rest of the record and one that rolls on for a solid ~five minutes. Though it doesn’t harm the experience entirely it brings very little magick within its allotment of time compared to the rest of the album.

If it seems like I’d been ripping through ‘Chthonic Invocations‘ without all that much to say I’m more-or-less matching the energy of this album in the sense that Funeral Storm‘s familiar style, their production values, and the effect of their work tunneling through is all straight forward enough in effect that I’d reached the point of pleasurable listening but never full fascination with it. As a devout fan of this style this’d all nonetheless read to me as a reasonably authentic and above average gesture toward old traditions which does well to repeat the success of the band’s first album with some notable shifts in pace and songcraft. Of course consistency helps the impression made thanks to another custom-set piece from Markus Vesper featuring the mascot found on the first album mid-process within his latest conjuration. Naturally the more time spent with the simple efficacy and underground appeal of this album the more it’d won me over and I think this will be echoed by similarly devoted fandom for this style, for all else that’d need to be convinced to enter the cult I’d probably start with the first album as an introduction and keep this in perspective as a worthy second chapter with similar goals. A high recommendation.

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