Without a doubt in my mind, the old schools of metal are not going away anytime soon no matter what anyone may say. The procession of time will always bring forward plenty of changes in any sound throughout the whole spectrum of music, but there is nothing that will ever truly extinguish the original flames of those classic metal styles that are still highly revered in today’s climate with many coming out of the woodwork to simply try their hand at perpetuating that very glory. There are still a few acts from those early days that are managing to put out new material for us to get a real taste of the past, and Funeral Winds is no small player when it comes to such names. Having been around for over thirty years now, the Dutch act has never been one to underestimate and that remains no different for its seventh full-length album.

When we’re dealing with a band like this, it is no stretch of the imagination to call it a sort of time capsule. Truly, you could take any work from the likes of Funeral Winds, put it on the shelves of certain black metal outlets in the early 90s, and you wouldn’t be able to tell it is out of place apart from its modern production. The attitude, the approach, the menace, and the very songwriting all come together magnificently to really make every work of Funeral Winds a work of true old-school black metal that many only ever hope to emulate, but works like “Stigmata Mali” need not emulate since they’re crafted by someone who was there in the very early years of the genre. Filled with eight tracks of riff-filled chaos the likes of which can only be crafted by someone who truly understands what cold black metal is, Funeral Winds’ newest outing from the abyss is another certifiable victory for the act to show us that the old-school is still far from dead but, rather, still quite thriving should you simply know where to look. A voracious listen from beginning to end with virtually no reprieve for the listener once they find themselves before the ancient might of “Stigmata Mali”, the very energies that are to be found within this effort cannot be understated for their infectious nature and overwhelming presences that constantly make the album a real treat to keep crawling back to.

It’s a straightforward creation that was made simply to bring further darkness upon this world like black metal was meant to since its very beginnings and Funeral Winds has always done an exemplary job at delivering quality of such in absolute spades with this record being no different. This has always been a band that’s a real treat for anyone who has wanted of that classic flame from black metal the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else with “Stigmata Mali” but the continuation of such mastery that many are constantly frothing at the mouth for!

LISTEN to “Stigmata Mali” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Funeral Winds on Facebook here.