Funeral For A Friend

Funeral For A Friend: Four Ways To Scream Your NameFour Ways To Scream Your Name (2003)
Mighty Atom

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: soulbleedcitra
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Published on May 2nd 2003The same old songs on a brand new stereo. That seems to be the theme for this album, and while I'm not really too sure if they were implying that they were revolutionaries or not, it seems to be an accurate term. Their third release "Four Ways To Scream Your Name," is easily one of the best offering.

The same old songs on a brand new stereo. That seems to be the theme for this album, and while I'm not really too sure if they were implying that they were revolutionaries or not, it seems to be an accurate term. Their third release "Four Ways To Scream Your Name," is easily one of the best offerings of 2003, and I've found it extremely hard to replace in my stereo since the label sent me an advance in February.

These Welsch pricks are special, and I'm sure they're very aware, as they boast their skill (like it's the head cheeleader around their arm, while you sit there moping on the sidewalk) -all- over their biography, which happily resides on their website. The songwriting techniques they tend to use the most are similar to that of Glassjaw and Finch - except the way they do it is probably 15 times better.

The leadoff track "This Year's Most Open Heartbreak" is hands-down the best song I've heard this year (outside of Rise Against's "Black Masks and Gasoline). It's nearly captivating in presentation; melodic and catchy at times, but hard enough to keep you hitting your fellow listeners long after the song's abrupt end - which is damn well how it should be.

"She Drove Me To Daytime-TV," the album's 2nd track strongly smells of Beautiful Mistake and Filmmaker, while "Kiss and Make-Up (All Bets Are Off)" is like mixing the harmonics of Brand New with the backround thrashing of Glassjaw or Outsmarting Simon. "Escape Artists Never Die," the album's closer easily rivals Thrice for best melodic hardcore song I've ever had the privilege of listening to. It's chorus is so infectuous it hurts, the guitars scream 80's metal solos (but in extremely short bursts) and the drumming is perfectly proportioned - not too much double bass, not too much cymbal - and it compliments the vocals better than anything I could ever hope for.

Overall, this is a must-have for anyone who appreciates the mere concept of mixing melodic vocal structures with the menacing, manic guitar styles of hardcore. While I'm sure you all own at least 10 albums from this genre, I doubt more than 1 or 2 could even hold a candle to this one. Do yourself a favor and check this band out - before they blow up in your face and make you sit there and scrub their feet for a living.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (November 24, 2005)

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FashioningKnives (December 19, 2003)

High quality...

whatsemo (July 7, 2003)

this is a great disc. I still lean slightly towards "Between Order and Model," but there's no disappointment here at all.

Anonymous (May 19, 2003)

These guys lyrics still don't compare to Thrice's.. but they do have a good sound

Anonymous (May 8, 2003)

Lets see... i scored this album a 5. why? Well, partially because it's only an EP. I say that they should now go and make a WHOLE album. I'd buy it right off, definitely. They ARE good, don't get me wrong there. If they decide to go all the way (yes, this includes making an entire album), then I'll give them a lot more credit.

Yes, amsterdam is a good song. And to whoever you were that said they made Thrice look like shit... what exactly are you thinking? These guys are good, but they don't have it down like Thrice does yet.

To sum it all up, they are worth the look IMO. Peace out.

Anonymous (May 7, 2003)

theres some vids of F4AF and a load of the other welsh bands on my site : southwalesmassive.com

as for the ep, i think its really neat, i've liked em for a while now, and i try never to miss them live. also xdoanex did their video, which is always a plus point :)

as for ryans mic, i think its the ideal solution. plus he thinks it makes him look like madonna :D

Anonymous (May 6, 2003)

It's actually only their 2nd release. "Between order and model" was another E.P released last year

These guys kick your ass then fuck your sister

Anonymous (May 6, 2003)

this album rocks .. but to that kid with the outsmarting simon comment .. they -have- been around for years. they've already put out two albums. stop being such a douche .. they've been around longer than these guys.

mikeshitter (May 5, 2003)

You said it, Forty. Plus, the drummer wears a headset mic, the kind that telephone operators wear. It's a good idea if you thrash your head about a lot while playing, but this guy doesn't.

FortyMinutesWest (May 4, 2003)

Good stuff, not amazing though.

everysecondweekend (May 4, 2003)

just read the review and decided to take a listen to some of their songs... damn is this stuff good

Anonymous (May 4, 2003)

I think it's funny that people say "...like Outsmarting Simon" like they've been around for years. They were signed last week - quit making them the standard for certain things, because they're not.

Anonymous (May 3, 2003)

making thrice sound like shit? definitely not. but i have to agree these guys are very talented... they sound like a mix of thrice and further seems forever

Anonymous (May 3, 2003)

This band sounds like Hundred Reasons with more screaming and more technical guitar work. I know it's only May but this has to be one of the best albums of the year. I know it only has four songs but holy shit I had never listened to them before and it made me ponder why the hell why was I listening to such crappy hardcore. Check this out

Anonymous (May 2, 2003)

Cover picture of this disc is amazing. I don't know what I've been doing wasting my time listening to bands like Thrice I shit my pants when I heard Amsterdam by these guys so gooooooooood.........
Who would ever thought they came out of Wales to, makes it that much better

Anonymous (May 2, 2003)

This is fucking awesome they make Thrice look like shit. I can't get over this I'll be listening to this for a while. Does anyone know if there doing a tour or on tour?

Anonymous (May 2, 2003)

so insanely good it hurts...