Autumnia - O'Funeralia

Autumnia's third album "O'Funeralia" is another release on the great Solitude Productions label and this is by far their best album to date. With the Death/Doom meets Funeral Doom genre there is always a certain amount of plagiarism that comes into play, after all the bands that indulge in the style are limited as far as what they play stylistically speaking. Not taking away anything from Autumnia because what they do, they do quite well it is just a album that if you are familiar with the style you would have no doubt heard it all before. Alexander Glavniy handles all the instruments while Vladislav Shahin does all the vocal work in typical My Dying Bride fashion. The music is real slow for the most part and is interspersed with keyboards, sharp and heavy guitar and beautiful violin parts, there is also a recurring theme of romanticism that fits in well with the mournful, emotional sounds that is so typical of bands within the genre. The melodic riffing could just as well be straight out of a Mourning Beloveth album and sometimes the vocals sound just like Worship, like I said before plagiarism. This is not all a bad thing however as this is a great album with no filler, just a solid but predictable one. Songs crossover from melodic Death Doom to other passages that are on the verge of real blackened Funeral Doom, this variety is what keeps the album interesting. Opening track " In Heavens..Among The Tombs" is the strongest track on the album which is a problem as the rest of the album struggles to keep up to that standard. The thick sounding but repetitive guitar work never gets too dull however as there is some good sometimes chugging riffing and the production is real heavy but clear. The vocals may raise a little debate as they changed from deathly growls to clean and back again, however in this band I feel they should have just stuck to the growls. When the cleaner vocals are used, it seems to take away a lot of power from the emotional element of the material. The use of Violin is well done, never over used and compliments the songs beautifully. All the songs are around the 10 minute mark and sometimes they do drag on like in "By The Candles Obesquail" which could have been cut up a bit in my view. My conclusion is a mixed reaction from me with this the third album for these Ukrainians but if you are fan of the genre you will find plenty to like about "O'Funeralia". 7/10

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