Old skool fans may long for a return to the rougher sound of their first EP, but Funeral For A Friend have always insisted that they were after slicker production on their earliest recordings at Mighty Atom studios. Now, on their sophomore album Hours, we finally get a taste of what those early demos should have sounded like; a snapshot of a band on the cusp of realising their true potential.

It's obvious how much of a leap Hours is from FFAF's debut; where once the polished nature of the recording threatened to overwhelm them, the band seem to have grown into their production values. The ride-off-into-the-sunset ending of 'Hospitality' doesn't suffer from the same contrived feel of the likes of 'Moments Forever Faded', and frontman Matt Davies' vocals no longer feel so buried in the mix that you doubt he could pull it off live. On a similar note, interviews with the band have also revealed a wish to emulate their onstage sound. Objective well and truly achieved, if the crystal clear intro guitars of 'Roses For The Dead' are anything to go by, sounding as fresh as they did last Summer at the Carling Weekender in Leeds. No wonder the band are calling this their first real album.

What's less obvious is what this is down to. You could easily put it down to experience; the band had barely toured when they were thrown in the studio to record their first album. Maybe it's simply the skillz of producer Terry Date, a man responsible for some of the most crisp metal albums ever produced, as opposed to the somewhat more syrupy sounds that (Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation producer) Colin Richardson tends to get out of some younger bands. Whatever. What is clear, however, is how much more comfortable it feels like the band were in the studio. This time round the band's own imprint, as well as a desire to experiment, is a lot more obvious. What were once hints of virtuoso guitarists Kris Coombs-Roberts and Darran Smith's capacities for amazingly complex, fragile and brutal pieces of metal-'work are now fully-fledged aural GBH; and they show no intention at stopping with just that. Elsewhere 'Sonny' completely turns the band's reputation for riffs on its head, just as at home on a Cher or Sarah Brightman record as on this. This experimentation extends to the vocals; you can actually hear Davies starting to explore the capacity of his voice for different sounds across different songs - the broken words in 'Hospitality' being a case in point. Lyrically too, Davies' writing has matured somewhat with time on the road, moving away from more static cliché imagery of the first album's line-by-line writing. Certainly there are parallels with Million Dead frontman Frank Turner's lyrics, in the mixed metaphor and more fluid, train of thought passages in the likes of 'History' and 'Streetcar'. Altogether it makes for some real spinetingling moments; the heart-breaking, feedback ending of 'Drive', the collapse at the start of 'Alvarez', and the start of 'Streetcar' that sounds like the unleashing of the apocalypse.

However, for all of this, it doesn't mean they're quite there yet. It's far too easy to just skip over some of the less immediate tracks like 'Hospitality' and 'History' without giving them a chance to grab you; however this is the most complete piece of work to come from the band so far. Yes, they may be on the cusp, but not quite at the point of maturation just yet. Stick around - it's going to be an interesting ride.

Rating: 4/5 by Ruth Midget

Tracklisting

1. All The Rage
2. Streetcar
3. Roses For The Dead
4. Hospitality
5. Drive
6. Monsters
7. History
8. Recovery
9. The End of Nothing
10. Alvarez
11. Sonny
    + Bonus DVD documentary from the Give It A Name performance

Further links

Funeral For A Friend.com

Official site of Funeral For A Friend

Atlantic Records.co.uk

Label home to The Donnas, Craig David, and more