Funeral Leech are a death/doom metal band from the US and this is their second album.
I enjoyed 2020’s Death Meditation, so knew I didn’t want to miss out on hearing The Illusion of Time. I’m glad I didn’t either, as this is a damn fine album.
Funeral Leech specialise in mid-to-slow-paced old-school death metal with entrenched morbid doom leanings. This is crushing death/doom, with macabre atmosphere and the weight of a thousand corpses behind it.
The Illusion of Time takes the template laid down on Death Meditation and builds on it, reinforcing its strengths and mercilessly carving off its weaknesses. Funeral Leech have added new horror-soaked sounds to their music too, in the form of atmospheric synths, dark funeral doom-inspired mournful depths, and classic doom metal solos and melody.
This expansion in scope is reflected by the fact that The Illusion of Time contains one track less than its predecessor, while only running a couple of minutes shorter – 43 vs 45. This indicates Funeral Leech’s overall average increase in track duration, which has allowed the band to explore a wider array of territory across any individual song. They make good use of this extra time to flesh out their sound with a creative darkness that’s infectious.
The songwriting feels tighter, more concise, and more detailed. The songs have a satisfying weight and heaviness to them, and the gritty riffs, humongous growls, and organic percussion all leave the listener flattened, but happy. At least, as happy as death/doom that’s thoroughly dark, despondent, and hopeless can leave you, of course.
On The Illusion of Time Funeral Leech have stepped up their game to produce a rewarding record of quality death/doom. Heavier, but also more nuanced, grimmer and more depressive, yet also more vibrant in its presence, The Illusion of Time is worth getting to know.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 