A while ago, I got acquainted with Поезд Родина, a Russian/Ukranian funeral doom act. Since then, the band has been growing, or so it seems. Musically and as far as atmosphere is concerned, the three songs that this duo has delivered, are awesome. Where some funeral doom acts come up with thick riffs, Поезд Родина manages to create layers of crushing sounds, steamrollers of hopelessness so to speak.
Of course, we shouldn't forget about the deep growls, which are often accompanied with eerie blackened screams. These drag the listener even deeper into their spiral of pitch black drift-sand, again, so to speak. The ghostly keyboards make it even more angsty and fearsome. In short, brilliant work again by Поезд Родина, a band that is certainly climbing in my favorite funeral doom acts list.
However, they might see some competition from their Russian collegue from Funeral Tears. Take the slowest Sisters Of Mercy song, slow it down even more, pour a shitload of distortion and some guttural growls over the whole and you come very close to where Funeral Tears seems to be heading. This certainly is a dark, impending and desperate sounding act.
What differs Funeral Tears from other acts, is the way the drums are used. In stead of slow, pounding drums, here they sound a bit like military percussion, or at least at times. This is a very interesting approach and brings the act closer to martial ambient acts. 'Martial doom', that would be an awesome genre and I feel Funeral Tears might be the act inventing it.
Funeral doom fans should defintitely get their hands on a copy of this awesome split. The bands perfectly alternate and their songs fit quite well together. From start to finish, this piece of work certaintly has the power to keep the listener in its grip, or its crushing strangle-hold if that suits you better. So check it out, you will be mesmerized...
Serge