Funeral For A Friend - See You All in Hell

  by Kelly Smith

published: 12 / 11 / 2011

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Review

I haven’t done any kind of primary research on the subject, but I’d say that on average, an EP usually has less than nine tracks on it. Quite a few less, I’d wager. I think FFAF are being liberal with their definitions of new offering ‘See You In Hell’, released as “an expansion to their ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ album”. A mix of new tracks, re-mixes and ridiculously brilliant live performances, this is a welcome addition to the FFAF catalogue. I listened to this all the way through in the car without checking the track listing first, so I felt a bit short changed when I realised that some of these songs had appeared on ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ as well. That soon changed when I realised that these tracks (the excellent pop-punk ‘Sixteen’ plus ‘Broken Foundation’ ‘Man Alive’ and the hardcore epic ‘Front Row Seats to the End of the World’) were actually LIVE versions, recorded LIVE in a radio studio, LIVE. Seriously, if you are into you live music sounding better than anything you could imagine being recorded by most artists, you need this EP in your life. Based on this they are an unmissable live act, which is ironic since I missed the chance to see them last month due to some poor planning on my part. Next time, I’m first in line. New song ‘High Castles’ opens the EP with speed and intensity – both characteristics which were present in abundance on their previous album. It’s the kind of track you could easily hear being performed live and the more I hear it, the more I think it will soon slot effortlessly into FFAF’s regular set. If you think the live performances are something special (which you should, because they are), the two acoustic tracks which close the EP will make you fall in love all over again. ‘Old Hymns’ and ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’, as you might guess, are again from the full length album released earlier this year. The acoustic versions are quietly beautiful, allowing the vocal and the lyrics to take centre stage in what proves to be an emotionally-charged ending to the EP. ‘Old Hymns’ in particular is gorgeous, the new acoustic version completely changing the tone and implied meaning behind the track. Again, and quite boringly, Funeral For A Friend have left me with nothing to complain about. Probably more of a must-have if you are already a FFAF fan (would that make you a FFAFF?), I’m not sure if there’s that much here for you if you have never heard them before. Having said that though, I can think of no better introduction to this band than the acoustic ‘Old Hymns’, so give it a go if you’re unfamiliar with their music. If I’m being hyper-critical, the only thing I’m left wanting is an entire album (or ‘EP’, as they would nonsensically describe it) of acoustic tracks. Until then, though, this is completely wonderful enough.

Track Listing:-

1 High Castles
2 Will To Die
3 Medicated
4 Sixteen
5 Broken Foundation
6 Man Alive
7 Front Row Seats To The End Of The World
8 Old Hymns
9 Welcome Home Armageddon

Band Links:-

http://funeralforafriend.com/
https://www.facebook.com/funeralforafr
https://twitter.com/ffaf
https://www.youtube.com/user/FuneralTu
https://plus.google.com/10788102192882

Label Links:-

http://distillermusic.com/
https://twitter.com/distillermusic
https://www.facebook.com/distillerreco
https://www.youtube.com/user/livefromd
https://plus.google.com/+DistillerMusi
https://www.instagram.com/distillermus