Buzzin Music

funeral for a friend-welcome home armageddon

“A fist in the face followed by a kiss on the cheek”

That’s how vocalist Matthew Davies-Kreye describes the latest album from his band Funeral For a Friend, their fifth studio effort Welcome Home Armageddon, which is released on March 14th.

The album is produced by previous collaborator Romesh Dogangoda, an inspired choice, as with the band he has managed to present the new tracks as true to their live shows as possible on a collection designed to send a shiver down the spine of fans when they first hear it.

Embracing their trade mark mix of raw heaviness and pure melody fans of Funeral of a Friend are unlikely to be disappointed with Welcome Home Armageddon, but expect some twist and turns on this latest offering as the band develop and hone their song writing skills and incorporate a multitude of different musical elements, hitherto unheard of on previous offerings.

The heavier vocals take an integral role on several of the tracks. Drummer / vocalist Ryan Richards commented on his contribution to Front Row Seats To The End of The World – “It was a lot of fun for me to do a lead vocal again on a track, as it’s probably something I’ve not done since way back on the first record.”

Funeral For A Friend have made the track Front Seats To The End Of The World available as free download as a taster to fans of what to expect on the new album.

You can watch the video of Front Seats… here

From the fast, punky feeling of Old Hymns, through the seven-string guitar led riff spectacular Aftertaste and the even more riff-heavy Spinnin’, FFAF have crafted an album of potential classics with each track as exciting and unpredictable as the one before it.

Anthemic songs with killer melodies such as album closer Welcome Home Armageddon and Sixteen, which actually started life as an acoustic number, amply demonstrate the diversity of both the material and the band.

The apocalyptic sway in the title track of the album Welcome Home Armageddon is explained by vocalist Matt Davies-Kreye:

“A friend of mine was mentioning how he felt that the best thing for the planet was for the human race to just drop dead and at times I can see and understand his way of thinking but a big part of me has this (probably) misguided faith in humanity to kind of steer the ship in the right direction for a change. So ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’ is the idea of patiently waiting for the end to arrive at your doorstep and give you a nice big hug.”

The band will also hit the road in March / April next year with a string of dates at intimate venues, some of which are in towns they’ve never actually played before. The extensive run of dates has been purposefully plotted to traverse through those venues which both longtime fans and those who have discovered FFAF in recent years will appreciate for their up-close-and-personal feel. Support on these dates will come from fast rising British band Rise To Remain. The tour has now been expanded due to high demand.

Funeral For a Friend UK Tour Dates:

Wed 16 Mar       Aberystwyth      Arts Centre

Thu 17 Mar         Buckley                Tivoli

Fri 18 Mar            Penrith                 Leisure Centre

Sat 19 Mar           Edinburgh           Bongo Club

Sun 20 Mar         Glasgow               King Tuts

Tue 22 Mar         Bury St Edmonds              Apex

Wed 23 Mar       Birmingham        Academy 2

Thu 24 Mar         Manchester       Academy 3

Fri 25 Mar            London                 Relentless Garage

Sun 27 Mar         Liverpool             02 Academy

Mon 28 Mar       Stoke                    Sugarmill

Tue 29 Mar         Wakefield           Black Flag

Wed 30 Mar       Durham                Live Lounge

Fri 01 Apr             Poole                    Chords

Sat 02 Apr            Saltash                  Livewire

Sun 03 Apr          Wycombe           Academy

Mon 05 Apr        Brighton               Concorde 2

Tue 06 Apr          Coventry             Kasbah

Thu 07 Apr          Gloucester          Guildhall