Release Date: July 24th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats:DD
Funeral Joke - Tracklist
1.Funeral Joke 05:06
2.The Veil 05:51
3.Doomwell 05:10
4.Waiting For The Wound 05:42
5.Conscious 06:03
Members
Guitars: Michael Mauvais
Vocals: Nora Marcela Aguirre
Bass Guitar: Adrian Palacios
Drums: Matthew "Monty" Montana
Additional Keys and Synths: Anessa Hernandez
Review
The infamous El Paso, Texas Heavy Rock scene provides another great band for the underground scene to become accustomed with. This time round it’s Funeral Joke to make their appearance known with their great blend of Doom, Alt Metal, Sludge and Shoegaze sounds which they build from the ground up on their excellent debut self-titled EP.
The EP lasts around twenty nine minutes across five tracks where Funeral Joke combines that heavy Doomgaze sound against a Sludge Rock driven score with twisted Fuzzed Out melodies with dark levels of Grunge and Psychedelic Metal appearing. The superb opening title track is highly melodic but with a twisted undercurrent of Sludge, Doom and Fuzz Rock with the gloomy vocals from Nora Marcela Aguirre adding a slightly different Post-Gothic energy to the usual great style of Doomgaze sounds that’s becoming quite popular.
The record is cautiously bleak but that doesn’t stop Funeral Joke aiming for a certain Post-Punk and Post-Doom attitude on this record with small traces of Alt Metal keeping a subtle grounded sound emerging on tracks The Veil and Doomwell. There is an exquisite retro Nineties DOOM & GLOOM aesthetic that allows Funeral Joke to create bewitching melodies which feels that the band are bringing the Halloween Season a few months early with how the record builds up the eerie atmosphere slowly and quite confidently at the same time.
Funeral Joke aims for a frantic Noise Rock finish on certain sections on the record where the later stages offer the most dramatic and distorted progressive moments on the whole EP. You can hear influences such as The Cult, Windhand, Monolord and Neurosis along the way. Well, that’s what I hear when everything is finished but there’s some wicked Stoner Metal sounds starting to emerge which become quite down-tuned and even transfers over into the LOW & SLOW amplified arena which should keep many folks / devoted followers of the almighty riff happy.
The lyrics are quite bleak but they manage to convey some subtle emotional energy to them which matches the music superbly well that allows Funeral Joke to deliver a highly engaging HEAVY RAWK experience you’ll fall in love with over time the more times you listen to the full emotionally charged experience.
Words by Steve Howe
Links
Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram
