The Demo Was Better #1: Japan's Funeral Rites
Anyone who knows me on any level can attest to my affinity for Japanese black metal, from my five plus sparkly Sabbat shirts, rabid dedication to Sigh’s demos, how obnoxiously I’ll wax on about the crazy bass work on Hakuja’s only full length (I’m sure that you haven’t heard of them, we’ll save that for a different issue), or the fact that I regularly punish anyone and everyone with the YouTube video of a very early iteration of Sabbat playing full bore–Gezol wearing only a studded leather thong and all–to a clearly dumbfounded live TV audience at Nagoya’s Under the Castle festival.
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A band from Japan that you likely haven’t heard, probably my favorite, is Funeral Rites… no, not that Funeral Rites, not that one either, still not that one……
Hailing from Osaka, Japan, it is easy to say that Funeral Rites is Japan’s answer to Emperor, but that would be unfair. Forming only three years later, Funeral Rites were more of contemporaries with Emperor than coattail riders.
Releasing their first two demos in 1996, the first simply titled Demo I is easily their most primitive sounding release–with simple, evil riffing, meaty tone, and heavy use of synth pads, the band makes a pretty distinct impression. At only 12:33, Demo I opens with the phenomenal “Necroeater”. They’d later name their sole full-length after this track while sadly not including it in the album itself. The song weaves a tapestry that is as brutally barbaric as it is airy and dreamy. Track two is much more straightforward without veering off course, The track is named “Funeral Rites”. Yep, they actually named the song after the band, classy. The demo closes with a brief spooky funeral dirge performed only on piano with spoken word croaked over it.
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Funeral Rite wasted no time releasing a second demo, The Wintermoon. After a brief and pretty unnecessary intro they launch directly into the title track–this is where the Emperor comparison really starts to make sense. The synth pad used on this track even lifts a progression directly from the Emperor track, “Cosmic Keys to my Creations and Times.” Typically this would bother me personally, but this band is too near and dear to my heart to not excuse it. The rest of the demo comfortably leans into this sound, going back and forth between tracks of light speed tremolo picking and militant mid-tempo songs. This thing really has something for everyone, never losing the creepy keys or the ugly, high, croaking vocals.
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By 1997, Funeral Rites’ third demo had really solidified their formula as easily compared to very early Sigh and early Emperor; the band also had a spirit and sound all their own. “Weird Tales” opens with the sludgy, mid-tempo title track adorned with flavorful guitar flourishes and eerie synths and sets the mood very effectively. “Moonlight December” is the track that follows and hoo boy is it incredible. The track’s atmosphere is unreal; in my opinion this is their finest moment and based upon the fact that this was used in their only compilation appearance as well being included in their first and only full-length, the band likely felt similar.
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This is followed by the emotive instrumental, “At the Warend” (not a word but I’ll allow it). Guitar and piano slowly build to an expressive guitar solo–the track paints a bittersweet image of a sole survivor seeing dawn rise over a bloodsoaked battlefield. This really should have been the closer to the demo, but what the fuck do I know? I can’t even write music.
“Crucifix” closes the demo and it comes straight out the gate with a fast thrashing mosh riff before slowing down and swelling the atmosphere with dreamy synth pads before launching back into the mosh riff. This track alone really makes me wish I’d seen these guys live when I was younger. I’d still enjoy them now, but I’d be standing at the back nursing a drink and thinking about my arthritis rather than losing my mind at the front of the stage.
The timeline following Weird Tales is unclear to me. At some point they’d caught the attention of the legendary Painkiller Records who would release the band’s first, only, and brilliant full-length, 2000’s Necroeater. If the current going price of the vinyl is any indication at all, the record was very poorly received and that is fucking criminal. I am not sure if the album was just not promoted well enough or if the fact that the only black metal that was seasoned with Rammstein influences was selling at the time. Whatever the case, the record landed with a dull wet plop and the band called it quits. Funeral Rites’ legacy was buried under the coming wave of USBM, Cascadian Black Metal, and generally just not a whole lot of fucks being given about the genre as a whole.
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Find the demos, find the full-length, steal them digitally and/or actually pony up the measly $20 that you can buy the entire physical discography for, it’s worth your time.
–Calvin Cushman
