Arrival of the Funeral Dogs

Arrival of the Funeral Dogs is a little, entertaining piece of art. It is death metal, no question about it, but the polished professionalism displayed on the album, together with the excellent production, is convincing enough to make it seem meeker than it actually is.

Death metal with oriental influences immediately brings up Nile. But in this case, Nile is not a valid comparison. There's not much common between this album and most of Nile's works. The music here is slower, less centered on brutality, and not as obsessed with things oriental as Nile. There are no strange egyptian strings, no gazillion different percussion instruments, and in the end, almost no parts that deviate from stricktly western musical structures. This is death metal cleverly mixed with oriental sounding ingredients, and doesn't go nearly as far overboard as Nile.

The musical delivery on the album is really controlled and restrained, and immaculately skilled and accurate. Khert-Neter's strengths do not rely on brutal aggression or speeding and bashing until only pulp remains, but rather on finesse and excellence on thje instruments. As death metal, this is medium-paced at best, and the spotless production, with the vocal parts on top and the drums a bit further in the background, allows the listener to hear any instrument he wishes. Clear as a mountain lake, in other words. Even the lyrics are relatively easy to understand, despite the growl.

The songwriting, on the other hand, is somehow determined, and the songs work like well-oiled machines, with no extra bells and whistles, purely relying on riffs and generally the other main points in the Metal Manual. The tracks never once deviate from their trajectories, and hit their targets every time.

The additional notes in the album entry shed light on the album, and perhaps this could be called a compilation, if the story holds. However, the interesting part for a lot of folks might be the connection with Horna, perhaps the best currently active finnish black metal band. To a casual, and very un-tr00, listener the relation between the two does not come as a real surprise, but it perhaps helps to explain the quality. This band didn't just pop out of nowhere, there's solid professionalism involved, especially considering the claim that the album consists of two demos recorded at different times. There simply isn't a noticeable transtition from one lot of songs to the other, and that speaks volumes of the strength of the vision on the crew involved.

Later changes in the line-up may also explain the lack of infectiosness on the follow-up Images of Khepri. While retaining the same basic idea and structures, it's not nearly as captivating as Arrival of the Funeral Dogs. It is not a bad album by any means, but it's not quite up to the debut's standards, either.

Medium-paced, below average angry and extremely well produced death metal with a dash or two of oriental influence in it. Recommended to people who enjoy well-made music and riff-driven death metal in less chaotic forms. This is easy to enjoy, but not hollow or mainstream. Try it.