Violence Academy
My Funeral
•
March 11, 2015

Even though I have been a long time connoisseur of Thrash, I'm struggling to recall more than 3 Thrash bands from a certain country: Finland. However it is precisely from Finland that Thrashers MY FUNERAL hail from, and they're now releasing their 3rd full-length album "Violence Academy" this March 13th. Though it's being marketed as Thrash Death band, the band is really more of a Technical Thrash band than anything else.
The reason I say that is the vocals here by Ilkka Sepponen are more clean and of a plain screaming nature as opposed to growling or typical Death Metal vocals. So the clean vocals kind of slightly disappoint me considering the fact that I was expecting more aggressive growling style here. But having said that the rest of the music is pure bliss. Right from the fast paced riffs, to the solos to the drum blast beats, everything on offer is just heaven for Thrash fans. The band does fall short of getting the backing vocals right, leading to a pale anthemic feel of the songs which could have been so much better with different style and better production - but the solo screams by Sepponen are commendable.
The album takes off right from the first song "Violence Academy". "Violence For Violence" really is one of the better songs on offer here as the riffs come is a beautiful rhythmic way with a complex song writing displayed here, as the song moves into a low tempo mode in the middle, building the tension in an intriguing way before going back to the heavy riffage mode, all without sounding anything Progressive, clearly displaying the potential and talent of the musicians involved here.
"Unknown Abyss" starts off with a distinct guitar work, as the rest of the music slowly builds me. The clean vocals here make the vocals more catchy and even hummable. Both "Thrash On Your Grave" and "Speed Of Death" starts off with a tasty solo before going mayhem and after multiple listening sessions of the album, I'm convinced that the screaming vocals somehow work better in the latter part of the album compared to the initial part. The album finishes off with another song "Too Drunk To Thrash" filled with sea of sharp bullet like riffs, though nothing out of the world or even different compared to what's been on offer so far. It's got the party lyrics which has become a cult in Thrash scene since the emergence of bands like MUNICIPAL WASTE.
After a bit of brainstorming for this review, I have come to a conclusion that the closest that the sound of MY FUNERAL can be compared to is ARTILLERY and a bit of SLAYER, due to the distinctive guitar sound. There isn't too much wrong with this album except for the fact that it's being marketed as Thrash Death when it's not. While the sound eliminates the comparisons with Bay Area or Teutonic Thrash, it does have shades of the former. All in all it's a short album of just under 34 minutes and its worth your time, and both the guitarists here deserve a special mention for creating that ear piercing sound.
8 / 10
Excellent

"Violence Academy" Track-listing:
1.Violence Academy
2. Thrash Hammer
3. Violence For Violence
4. Unknown Abyss
5. Thrash On Your Grave
6. Rest In Business
7. Speed Of Death
8. Strongest Falls
9. Too Drunk To Thrash
My Funeral Lineup:
Ilkka Sepponen - Vocals & Bass
Joonas Kiviniemi - Guitar
Aku Korhonen - Guitar
Hannu Sivusuo - Drums
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