With Funeral For A Friend, no two albums are truly the same. But ‘Chapter And Verse’ seems like the obvious step from ‘Conduit’, their last release, with its mix of hardcore riffs and swooping hooks.
The band haven’t been this visceral or honest for a while, and it’s endearing to see them take their biggest step since ‘Hours’. Vocalist Matt Davies-Kreye’s voice swings from smooth to rough faster than you could care to imagine, and the boys follow with a superb body of work that it Chapter And Verse.
Touching on themes ranging from religion, government, exes and death, the album has a feeling of being whole, with tracks like ‘1%‘ and ‘Pencil Pusher‘ showing particular anger. Davies-Kreye bellows “I don’t feel anything / You don’t mean anything to me” on the latter track, while there are hidden gems in ‘Chapter And Verse’.
These include the punchy ‘Modern Excuse For A Man‘ and ‘Inequality‘, the latter’s subject matter being well advertised in the title. But the bookend tracks may be the highlights of the album. Opener ‘Stand By Me For The Millionth Time‘ has an infectious riff throughout, with lyrics you find yourself singing along with earlier than you thought, while the softer ‘The Jade Tree Years Were My Best‘ is a sublime album closer that contains more surprises than you know.
This album is a stellar addition to the back catalogue that Funeral For A Friend are proud owners of, and it’s great seeing such a hard working and beloved band still coming out with such an interesting album. There are certainly more chapters in the story of FFAF to come, and we’ll be there singing along to every chorus and verse.
‘Chapter And Verse’ is released on Distiller Records, on the 19th of January, 2015.