Modern Excuse Of A Man? You’ve Got A Bad Case Of The Religions? Funeral For A Friend certainly know how to write a song title. Screamo-phobes might argue that it’s the songs themselves that need work, but long-time fans are unlikely to be complaining.
That’s because FFAF continue to plough the more uncompromising, full-throttle furrow they’ve returned to since their major-label flirtations with stadium rock in the mid-noughties.
Matthew Davies-Kreye’s vocals sound impressively close to mental breakdown, while the lurching riffage underpinning You Should Be Ashamed Of Yourself and the rabble-rousing roar of Pencil Pusher are similarly startling.
The only drawback? It sounds like just another FFAF album. Even the stripped-back treatment of Brother is evidently a generic FFAF song played on acoustic. Then again, they long ago proved their versatility, and there’s no shame in sticking to home territory./o:p
