It certainly is going to be.
Funeral Marmoori is a band from Italy. (At this point in my career as a reviewer, I could almost add 'where else?' to that sentence.) They formed in 2008 after an idea by Fabio (drums) and Giulio (guitars & vocals) already members of another Stoner/Sludge project Gum. Gradually other members joined the band and suddenly there was another brilliant doom band in Italy. Blending hard rock and traditional doom metal and playing it with loads of fuzz, that seems to be the mission of these guys.
The album opens with 'The Deer Woman', immediately coming up with the guitars and drums that make this whole scene so damn interesting. Besides the clean but powerful vocals, Funeral Marmoori adds a great amount of organ and keyboards to the whole, reminding me of something between Deep Purple and Cathedral. The riffs on 'The Deer Woman' also remind me a bit of 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida', which makes me conclude that this opener is a massive song and a prime example of vintage doom rock.
From there on, the album rolls on in perfect doom metal tradition, adding influences from Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath and the highly acclaimed Italian prog rock wave of the seventies. I really dig the almost constant presence of the organ. It gives the whole a very interesting and quite unique edge in the present day scene and makes a song 'Last Sip' a psychedelic masterpiece. The repetitive combination of riffs and organ-sounds is almost trance inducing and so awesome.
This is a serious candidate for my end-year list, to be honest. There's quite a few of them now and only time will tell which ones will be making that list. Yet, like I mentioned in the opening paragraph of this review, this is an album that I feel has been in my collection for a long time now, something which only some of my all-time favorites share. Therefore, pure mathematically, this one is definitely coming back by the end of the year. Highly recommended? Damn sure it is!
Serge