Review by Shannon Shumaker
The Funeral Portrait’s debut EP, For The Dearly Departed is theatrical, anthematic and explosive. As far as first impressions go, The Funeral Portrait definitely deliver with this EP. From the moment that the first track, “Casanova (Ces’t La Vie)” begins, they’ve got me hooked, and then when the powerful chorus pumps through my speakers, I’m blown away.
In fact, “Casanova (Ces’t La Vie)” is easily the strongest track on the album, both vocally and musically. The Funeral Portrait waste absolutely no time in throwing you right into a theatrical anthem and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The chorus in this track is especially hard hitting and catchy and promises to leave me humming to tune along for the rest of the album.
The only problem is, I feel that The Funeral Portrait put their strongest track right at the beginning of their EP, which absolutely sets a high expectation for the other five songs. I’m not saying that the rest of this album falls flat by any means, because that would be a crime, especially considering the absolutely jaw-dropping vocal parts in tracks such as “All My Circuits” and “Wax Romantic,” but “Casanova” is definitely a hard act to follow. That being said, The Funeral Portrait absolutely redeem themselves. This EP definitely isn’t weak by any means – it’s amazingly well written and produced, and the vocals are definitely strong throughout every song. The last two songs in particular are amazing, especially the anthematic and haunting “The Optimist.” “Marrow” is also a very strong track with a gorgeous, melodic and catchy chorus. In fact, if The Funeral Portrait should be known for anything, it should be for their incredible choruses.
Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect with The Funeral Portrait as I haven’t listened to any bands similar to them in quite a while, but whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t this. As a whole, For The Dearly Departed is a remarkably strong debut EP, and for it being their debut release, The Funeral Portrait have definitely delivered. Both the clean and rough vocals throughout the entire album, while completely different from one another, manage to mesh very well, which is a pleasant surprise. For The Dearly Departed is a mix of a little bit of everything, but not in a bad way where it seems like the band doesn’t know what they want to do – they definitely have their own unique sound, and that’s what makes them a stand-out for me. If The Funeral Portrait are trying to get my attention, they’ve got it.
Rating: 3.5/5
Listen to: “Casanova (Ces’t La Vie)”