Funeral Mist
Salvation

"The fables of pagan philosophers who imagined a nature existing before the creative act of God are false and mendacious...".

In the 13th century, Thomas thus asserted or tried to assert the supremacy of the Church over any other doctrine spread in the then-known world. This is to be considered the Middle Ages in some ways, a period later defined as dark and "theocentric," where the harshest condemnation occurred for any act outside the canons indicated by ecclesiastical institutions. Years in which a single small light of humanity was extinguished by the breath of a superior, divine entity.

Today, Funeral Mist is here to erase any thoughts regarding the repression and religious dedication that occurred in the early centuries after the year 1000. They are here to tell us that even in the Middle Ages, blasphemy and violence could exist and develop in the most disparate ways. To do this, the band formed in 1998, relying on members both from Marduk, the singer and bassist Mortuus Arioch, and Triumphator in 2003 released this sensational album: "Salvation," with a cover that explains their thoughts, but not entirely about the true and pure content of the album.

The meaning of this Black Metal is one: death, but not simple death, rather death in the darkness, in the obscurity of an era so distant, yet at the same time recent, close. The fury of the sound mainly mixes two fundamental styles, the Swedish and the Norwegian, but that's not all; Funeral Mist goes beyond. They insert new subtleties and elements in the tracks, perhaps already proposed, but not so effectively. The base and foundation of this musical "column" are primarily a thirst for violence, a sometimes monstrous speed and simple but by no means trivial riffs. Then there is the alternation of tempos used, the use of many different ways of singing, indeed ranging from screams, shouts to invocations and proclamations; the dismal sound and very well-executed production manage to maintain a sense of Chaos and continuous confusion (in a positive sense, NDA) are instead the stem of this column, the development of the album along with the songs, of course. Finally, the true refinements: the atmospheres of past centuries recreated in minute detail, of a time where darkness and fear reigned supreme. And it is here that their blasphemy lies if we want to call it that, it is in the association of religious elements such as Gregorian chants and sacred rites with a completely desecrating way of playing, but not too far from those settings so well recreated also thanks to truly excellent sound.

Then here someone or perhaps more than someone might legitimately object: but what is so new or strange in this type of juxtaposition? But let me respond that all this is executed with such mastery and delicacy as to make it so new, never heard before, that's precisely their "devilishly sweet" touch, a brilliant parallelism between sacred and profane, between chaos and sacredness. Here is the capital of the pillar that is 'Salvation,' a Corinthian capital, beautiful in its disrupted harmony.

It begins with "Agnus Dèi" which in the first part evokes soft, distant moans and cries that intersect with a low and grave background sound, then Arioch's voice pronounces a phrase also distant introducing a very high-pitched scream, the guitars start with their swirling, ever faster; the volume suddenly rises until it reaches a slow, measured central break, but only briefly: their intention is to move to "Breathing Wounds" breaking speed barriers. Just five seconds of a brief background and you start again where you left off, but even in this case, there is no monotony in the tempos, slow riffs and very rapid riffs coexist with devastating effects on anyone, but the atmosphere remains ancient, always and everywhere. But there is something for everyone, after all, the past was like this, a mixture of different elements that characterized it deeply. Indeed, the most hypnotic as well as very evil track is just around the corner and is called "Holy Poison", made up of sounds repeated endlessly in every way, in a vicious or virtuous circle depending on the argument: if talking about the wickedness of this Holy Poison it's vicious, for everything else the technical "virtus" of the musicians is unbelievably fascinating.
Of course, there is the central phrase in Latin containing sensations of masses and friar's robes, too bad it then speaks of a certain Holy Poison, yet in its context, it is perfectly integrated with the rest of the track.

But to find the true traces of the vaunted Middle Ages, you have to wait for "Perdition's Hope" with its exciting premises; it reveals itself to the listener with the song/lament of a choir that seems to advance with difficulty: these are purification rites, fanatics whipping themselves until they tear off pieces of flesh for their Creed and even more fanatical are those who form the procession singing endless chants. Impressive. Very well executed. "Perdition's Light" follows, a song that, in my opinion, contains one of the best riffs of the entire Album, which is located both in the middle and at the end with its ups and downs bringing us ever more towards a light of perdition, a black light. The bells finally, a sign that we are still alive, but to enjoy "Across The Qliphoht" from the countryside they rush to the square for the mass in which everyone participates, but they do not know that a wind made of ice and sin will hit them as soon as they reach Qliphoht. A calm and grandiose Gregorian chant, as perfect and sacred, leads towards the false path of forgiveness since in "Realm Of Plagues" only the plague can rule and all that it entails: death and desolation. The vocal changes from sharp screams to a grave harsh and vice versa demonstrate here to be part of Funeral Mist's repertoire.

But the band doesn't stop here, because one of the two suites of 12 minutes each comes forth entirely in its mix between Gregorian chant below and devouring fury above, which blend into a mixed ritual of divine salvation and infernal perdition, without ever boring or repeating itself. Following this "Circle Of Eyes" ending in the silence of the most worthy 13th-century cathedral comes "Bread To Stone" which instead is introduced by a sort of disturbing mini soundtrack and then develops in the sign of the entire album and leaves space for the final track "In Manus Tuas" another twelve minutes to amaze. One last masterpiece to describe dismal sensations of death and make us fall into their dark abyss, ever lower until stopping to face the final trick: a decadent wind music and Arioch's voice murmuring incomprehensible words, yet strangely harmonizing with the rest; everything ends with a piano, before the final silence.

The pagan philosophers have spoken through this new blasphemy, now recalling when their thoughts were silenced by any means, savoring today the revenge of their ideas over what had killed theirs. They are called Funeral Mist and in their own way, they ask for Salvation, but everyone must find their own, in Hell or Paradise.