One of the issues a lot of Black Metal bands face these days is that they quite often just sound like parodies of themselves. Couple that with the almost slapstick videos that seem to get made by them and you have everything you need to not get taken very seriously. This is such a shame as Black Metal has a lot to offer to the right people but it just doesn't get the chance to shine.

Of the many and varied styles of this underrated and unappreciated genre Raw Black Meta seems to be the easiest to target with this satirical view. It amazes me that DIMMU BORGIR managed to break so far into the mainstream whilst straddling as close to this sound as possible. It is no small feat but there are bands out there that manage to hold a sound that can please the purists whilst also being accessible to outsiders. FUNEREUS are pretty damn close to this and although their music is nothing short of full on, they don't push it too far into unintelligible madness so as alienate any newcomers to the genre.

Their second full length album "Return Of The Old Goat" ticks pretty much all of the boxes that constitute good Black Metal. FUNEREUS are nothing if not devoted to Satan and I'll be honest, this just gets my rocks right off. I've always believed that a good dose of Satanic imagery and lyrical content cleanses the soul.  The guitars rip right through you with a needle sharp edge to them and the vocals have all the classic makings of a Demon freshly summoned in the basement. What really impressed me is that they are just a two piece act. SATYRICON managed to make some truly fantastic music with just the two of them and these guys seem no different. The sound is full and has a healthy depth to it that could easily fool you into believing that they have the full contingent behind them.  The overall production compliments this nicely and although they have a good raw feel to them, it never gets too muddy and each part stands apart from the other.  This is probably the biggest advantage of having such a small band as it means that there isn't too much going on to confuse things.

The only real pitfall is that the album does feel a little like it could have just been a single song throughout. This is one of the many issues that bands like this face and unfortunately they don't vary the music up enough for any one song to stand out beyond the others. This is a common problem and I think this is really what makes some Black Metal bands stand out beyond the rest.