Album Review: Blind Equation – A Funeral In Purgatory (Prosthetic Records)

Blind Equation return with perhaps their most ambitious release to date. ‘A Funeral in Purgatory’ is the band’s third LP and is scheduled for release on July 18th on Prosthetic Records.

Cybergrind evolved, A Funeral in Purgatory isn’t quite like anything Blind Equation has created before but retains so much of what makes the band special too. Already quite an indefinable band, this record is more explorative than ever as gothic metal and death/doom elements meet the wonderful weirdness of cybergrind.

A consistent frontrunner within this genre, Blind Equation’s reputation for redefining themselves and the musical scene with every release only increases here, especially as a more varied approach to rock and metal refreshes things. Be under no false illusions, this album is the sound of Blind Equation as challenging as ever, but there’s also no doubt that it’s a more anthemic release with accessible touches.

It’s a lot of fun exploring the wild and wacked out musical landscape that Blind Equation have to show off here and their synthy intensity is at its most potent from the start with This Eternal Curse. It’s a heavy listen none the less, and a track that sets a high anthemic bar. Only for Nothing to come along and smash through it by being brilliantly infectious, cleverly detailed, and extremely punchy. Both tracks are class, but the latter is one that I think a wider array of people can enjoy. Although it would be foolish to not acknowledge it feels like the end for a similar reason, even if the effects and guest JOHNNASCUS change the nature of this one completely.

There’s nobody quite like this band, but for those who have been there from the start, what really makes this album special is the refinement. Alongside expected experimentation that still delights and dismays in equal measure. Blind Equation aren’t just repeating themselves here, and as the album goes on with the likes A Funeral, +‧+ ̊ ཐི⋆✟⋆ཋྀ ̊+‧+ , …in purgatory, Flashback, and Mourn, that point becomes even more prevalent.

The meshing of melody and metal, the eclectic effects, the intense bursts of heaviness, the different vocal styles, all put together in a way that is addictive, even when it shouldn’t always be. This really is the redefining of Blind Equation and what the cybergrind genre can give us.

The heaviest Blind Equation? Absolutely, but equally, the most touching. You can bang your head and go absolutely wild to this record, but you will also feel things. An unexpected aspect to the record, but one that just makes it all the better. It continues to be so good to hear them pushing their own personal boundaries resulting in a latter part of the record that is just as impressive as everything that came before.

The synth at the end of Relinquished Dreams is f**king spectacular. Whereas still has a dramatic video game feel, one that is emotionally potent. Then there is the finale of Incomplete, a Blind Equation epic from both a length perspective and a creative one. It’s the best and most varied Blind Equation record to date. Simple.

Blind Equation – A Funeral in Purgatory Track Listing:

1. This Eternal Curse
2. Nothing
3. it feels like the end (ft. JOHNNASCUS)
4. A Funeral
5. +‧+ ̊ ཐི⋆✟⋆ཋྀ ̊+‧+
6. …in purgatory
7. Flashback (ft. Strawberry Hospital)
8. mourn
9. Relinquished Dreams
10. still
11. Incomplete

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