No Funeral / Livid—“No Funeral/Livid Split”
Live Fast Die Recordings; 08/15/17—
Even though I love when bands are able to take long-standing musical genres and put a spin to them never done previously, there is a special place in my heart for groups who keep within the tradition of a particular style, just with their own sensibilities and distinct sound to make it stand head and shoulders above their peers. The No Funeral/Livid Split LP by No Funeral and Livid have done just that in the realm of doom metal. Though only three tracks, this is a full album coming in at around 36 minutes. It is a very traditional doom metal record: everything is slow, dirgey, down-tuned, and completed with lyrics about the hopelessness that can be found in the human experience; with a song title like “Disease Brought By Depression,” you get a good idea of what to expect. Imagining a landscape of complete sorrow with a soundtrack that has all of the speed of turtles running in frozen honey will put you in the proper mindset for the release. The production only adds to the morose ensemble. Though all of the instruments are crystal clear, the album is produced in such a way to make it feel “cold”—much in the same vein of lo-fi early black metal, but with way more bass. As much as I enjoyed the two cuts by No Funeral, it was the number “False Hope” by Livid that kept me spellbound. With its melodic contributions—in particular, the lead melody lines on top of the chugging rhythms and the perfect counterbalance they provide—and clean vocals that have a first-wave of goth tone about them, it was the epitome of “time flies when you’re having fun.” My enjoyment of the track altered my perception; it was the shortest 18-minute song I have ever heard. Overall, if you love doom metal, then this is an LP that you CANNOT afford to miss.—R.G.B. Robb
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