The conceptions about Metal genres and subgenres are always the main center of passionate debates on the internet and on shows, because it’s rare to find a consensus when dealing with some. On Funeral Doom Metal, things are even more difficult to fit on a model. The best way to do it is to see it as a genre of Doom Death Metal that uses slower tempos, with agonizing and funereal ambiences, or not (once again: the idea that one has about a genre can be linked to many different sources, so the discussions can be endless). But if one must have an example to deal with a Funeral Doom Metal act in the classic sense of definition, this one must hear to “Axis of Tortures”, the new release of the Polish quartet SUFFER YOURSELF. The words above depicts clearly what the quartet plays: a form of Funeral Doom Metal that is distorted, agonizing and really somber, as a musical picture of what one can see on the old horror films of Hammer Productions.

Using long songs, the band shows a procession of very good arrangements with an aggressive dynamic, but always filled with a morbid appeal. For the ones that aren’t into the genre, it can remind something that PARADISE LOST did on the days of “Lost Paradise” and ANATHEMA during “Serenades” age, but in a more bitter and acrid (and personal) form.  Greg Chandler did the mastering of “Axis of Tortures”, boosting the volume. The sonority of the album is clean and defined in a form to make the band’s music into something expressive and comprehensible, even when dealing with the arrangements. It’s really something unexpected, because bands of the genre usually prefer something into a ‘lo-fi’ way. And the artwork of Otto Rapp reinforces the subjective/oppressive side of the band’s music.

One can say that SUFFER YOURSELF is a very honest band with their musical work, what becomes clear when dealing with “Axis Insanity” (that shows some unexpected fast double bass parts of the drums, along disgusting and haunting contrasts between grunts, snarls and shrieks of the vocals), “Axis Despair” (the shifts between funeral ambiences is really oppressive, but always with very good and refined arrangements from bass guitar and of the guitars), “Axis Pain” (some clean chords touches are reinforcing the oppressive and desperate ambiences of this song, with brutal crushing tempos on bass guitar and drums), and “Axis Time”. But even being a Funeral Doom Metal band, the traits and elements of Old School Doom Death Metal are clear in many moments.

If the reader isn’t into Funeral Doom Metal, “Axis of Torture” is a fine opportunity to explore the genre in a deeper way. For those that are into it, SUFFER YOURSELF is the kind of band that you must hear at any cost.