CoC : Runemagick - On Funeral Wings : Review

Runemagick - _On Funeral Wings_
(Aftermath, 2004)
by: Alvin Wee (8 out of 10)

Runemagick are proving more dependable than I ever expected, with their seventh studio offering hitting my mailbox barely a year after their triumphant _Darkness Death Doom_ effort. Even with their prolific songwriting, the band manages to spew forth over 70 minutes of gloom-laden old-school death that never once turns tedious. Admittedly, _On Funeral Wings_ is somewhat harder to appreciate than the previous album, given its even more sluggish pace and depressive melody lines. Determined adventurers will nevertheless delight in the album's complexity and depth, losing themselves in dank, oppressive caverns with only the occasional glimmer of radiance to remind them of how deep they've sunken. Nicklas Rudolfsson's tormented rasp continually hints at a melody too twisted to grasp hold of, and coupled with bassist Emma Karlsson's wall of low-end frequency, reminds one of the grinding morbidity churned out by the early Dutch bands like Asphyx and Pestilence. All in all another fantastic effort from a criminally underrated band, and with the craze over hyperspeed death metal starting to wane, Runemagick will hopefully get the attention they've deserved for so long.

Contact: http://welcome.to/aftermath/

(article published 15/8/2004)

ALBUMS
27/4/2008	Q Kalis	8.5	Runemagick - Dawn of the End
3/7/2002	A Wee	8	Runemagick - Requiem of the Apocalypse
15/1/2000	P Schwarz	5	Runemagick - Enter the Realm of Death
16/1/1999	D Rocher	5.5	Runemagick - The Supreme Force of Eternity