Echo Scale™: 3.4/5 ★★★☆☆
Funeral Solution make their entrance from the southeast UK with debut single The Death of Ellis Bell. Taken from their upcoming EP The Art of Feigning Happiness, it sets out to deal with grief, death, and the delusions that come with them. Heavy subject matter, heavy sound. But does it land?
Muddy Waters: An Intro That Won’t Clear Up
The song opens in a haze, all thick guitars and atmosphere, but instead of brooding tension it comes across as a bit of a sonic swamp. The definition isn’t there, and the length of the intro doesn’t help you’re waiting for the punch to land, but it keeps circling before impact.
Screams on Top, Guitars Beneath
When the screams finally arrive, they’re powerful and delivered with conviction. The snag is the mix. They dominate so heavily that the guitars underneath don’t get the chance to do their job. The intensity is there, but the balance isn’t like having the spotlight on one actor while the rest of the stage goes dark.
Percussion to the Rescue
The real hero here is the drummer. The performance is tight, energetic, and keeps the track surging forward. It’s the percussion that gives the song its momentum, adding a drive that stops the whole thing collapsing under the weight of its own volume.
Clean Vocals: A Missed Opportunity
There are clean vocal passages tucked in, and they sound promising. The problem isn’t their quality it’s their positioning. Sitting further back in the mix, they don’t quite grab the listener the way they could. If they were brought more upfront, they’d provide a much-needed counterpoint to the screams and inject another emotional dimension into the track. Right now, they’re a flavour you only get hints of, when they could be a bigger part of the recipe.
Dynamics: The Missing Link
This is where things really stumble. The arrangement is fine, and the performances are strong across the board, but the dynamic range is practically flatlined. It’s loud from start to finish, with no peaks and valleys to keep the ear engaged. A song like this could have been devastating if it had given us some breathing space before slamming the hammer down again. Instead, it hammers non-stop impressive in the short term, tiring in the long run.
Not Bad, But Not Hooked
For a debut, The Death of Ellis Bell shows guts and ambition. It’s visceral, raw, and unapologetic. But it also plays into the same pitfalls that trip up a lot of new post-hardcore bands relying on sheer volume and intensity rather than sculpting the dynamics that keep listeners hooked.
Funeral Solution clearly have talent and drive. If they can refine the mix, push those cleans forward, and let dynamics breathe, they’ll turn potential into power. For now, though, this debut is more promising than polished.
Echo Scale™: 3.4/5 ★★★☆☆
