UMUR
"Brainspoon" is a two-track, 10:44 minutes long EP release by Finnish death metal act Funebre. The EP was released through Whisper in Darkness Records in 1990. Funebre were formed in 1989 and released two demos before releasing "Brainspoon", which was their first label release. The band were relatively short lived and they disbanded in 1991 shortly after releasing their debut and sole full-length studio album "Children of the Scorn". Although never commercially successful or reaching other than obscure underground recognition, Funebre are widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the Finnish death metal scene along with artists like Abhorrence, Xysma, Disgrace, and Convulse.
Stylistically the two tracks on the EP are pretty standard old school death metal with both fast, mid-paced, and slow sections and an unintelligible growling vocalist in front. The sound production is rather messy and noisy. But the close to chaotic sounding production however provide the music with the right authentic old school death metal atmosphere. Both tracks featured on the EP are culled directly from the 1989 "Cranial Torment" demo, so that explains the semi-professional sound quality, the relatively immature songwriting, and sometimes crude musicianship.
Since both tracks are featured in exactly the same versions on the "Cranial Torment" demo along with three extra tracks, "Brainspoon" is a bit redundant today, also taking into consideration that most reissue versions of Funebre´s debut full-length studio album "Children of the Scorn" (Spinefarm Records, 1991) contains the full demo (including the two tracks featured on this EP) as bonus material. Rated on it´s own this is still a greatly charming old school death metal recording though and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.