Album review- Blues Funeral: The Search

“The Search” is the debut album by hard rock band Blues Funeral and was released on July 30^th 2016. Blues Funeral first came onto my radar back in 2014 because I was drawn into their name honestly, I thought it was a cool name but unfortunately I didnt have much material I could hear from them until this album so they always remained a band I wondered about. Finally we have a debut record from these guys and I have seen a lot of positivity aimed at it so today we are looking at it in full depth to see how good this album really is.

Track Listing

1.Autumn Dream- Opening with some quiet psychedelic riffing this song, goes into a really heavy early seventies atmospheric tone with the heavier riffing and definitely feels faithful to that time period and retains a lot of catchy feelings and I love the organ in the quieter segments as well. It really is an amazingly written song that manages to be heavy, catchy and the vocals are very haunting and almost have a folk feel to them as well which I dig. The solo also has a lot of feel in it as well. Amazingly written track and definitely one of the major highlights on the album.

2.Harbinger- This song has a bit more of a Sabbath Bloody Sabbath vibe to it without obviously being a ripoff, the production just reminds me of that album. This sing has a lot of really haunting progressions especially through the chorus and still retains some of that Psychedelic structure from the late sixties as well. The solo almost has a more New Wave of British Heavy Metal feel to it which I really like especially in the more harmonic moments. One of the more straight forward songs on the album but very well written nonetheless.

3.Planet Void- The beginning riff to this song is very interesting and has a progressive feel to it which I dig, this band definitely takes a lot of elements from not only the heavier rock bands of the seventies but also the more progressive ones as well. This is a song that is on the faster side and definitely feels more like early eighties hard rock with Blue Oyster Cult like vocals leaning more on the doomier side and have some interesting harmonies during the chorus which really adds to the interesting structure of the song. Definitely one of my favorites on the album and the solo almost feels like I am listening to Testament which just shows how all over the place these guys are and it is in all the right ways.

4.Paragon of Virtue- This song has some really heavy organ playing with it and feels like doomed out Deep Purple which is pretty good. I really like the pacing of this song and the atmosphere they really convey as well. This song is a bit more laid back than the last one with its pace but it isn't necessarily a bad thing it definitely adds to the variety that there already is so much of on this album.

5.The Search- The title track is probably considered the epic song on the album because the composition is really well done and thought out with almost some classical elements in the beginning build up with it progressively getting heavier and lower which comes out to being really effective. It almost goes into a jazzy kind of jam that I really dig. I think this is the most interesting song on the album because of how many interesting turns it takes and the musicianship is impeccable here. It really is something you don't hear much of today and that makes this album very unique. Plus there is a bad ass organ solo as well and I always support that.

6.Palmdale- This is easily the heaviest song on the album. They channel that more Sabbathy vibe here probably more than any other song but that is mainly in how it is played. The riffs are really raw and heavy and I think this is a great way to end the album. Every instrument and the vocals are just firing on all cylinders. One think I give them huge credit for is that even being on the heavier side, this song still retains that catch that you have with the five before it and wraps everything up very nicely.

Overall, I give this album a solid 8.5 out of 10. Seriously what a debut album, I mean it really doesn't disappoint. Besides wishing it was a tad longer with maybe an extra track or two, I really have no complaints. These guys don't take the cliches most doom bands or throwback hard rock bands do over and over. They take the ideas and mold around them. They take virtuosity elements from the eighties, the heavy rawness and progressive writings from the seventies and the really psychedelic offerings of the sixties and mold it all into a really good heavy rock album. Pick this one up if you can, it definitely is worth it, now to wait for a vinyl release...