Funerus - Reduced to Sludge (2011)

   The history of Funerus leads back to the early '90s, but their 3 demo tapes was followed by a long inactive period, until the band regroupped and was completed with John McEntee (Incantation) in 2002 and their full-lenght debut was released in next year.
   Their second album "Reduced to Sludge" showed spectacular progression in sound and themes compared to the debut. That's partly because "Festering Earth" included old Funerus songs from the early '90s, while on "Reduced to Sludge" the work of alraedy well experienced musicians could be heard. The sound might sound unusual, because it shows some analogy with the Swedish sound of death metal, that might be extraordinary from an American band. In themes seemengly middle speed was preferred, but heavy slow downs and intense speed ups are both common. Definitely more focus was given for the slow downs, that's resulting some doomy (and Incantation-like) touch, while the frequent return to middle speed and basic themes suspects Bolt Thrower influence. The short term speed ups are favouring for the aggressive tone, but also having some balancing role. The other mentionable difference compared to "Festering Earth" was that on this album bass player Jill Daily debuted as a vocalist too. On the side of the sound update and the new themes, her brutal deep growling performance was also responsible for making "Reduced to Sludge" way more impressive and diverse than the first album.