Istanbul’s Merry’s Funeral is the Turkish darkwave duo of Julius Wentor (vocals, guitar) and Izzy Stone (additional vocals, bass). “Medusa”, out today on Secret Sin Records, marks the band’s sophomore album after 2016’s “Metanet” and Merry’s Funeral does not disappoint. This album is one you wrap around you in the despairing moments before dawn while you contemplate things you dare not face during the daylight hours.

Lyrically, even though the Wentor primarily sings in Turkish, songs deal with themes of death, pain, fear, atrocity, and suicide. His smooth vocals overlay what we’ve been referring to as a goth/wave vibe, meaning a well balanced mix of synths and guitars. While superficially reminiscent of She Past Away, Merry’s Funeral focuses less on driving beats and more on delivering a highly emotive experience through more open vocal melodies, more impactful synth lines, and array of of unexpected harmonizing instruments including sax and organ. Even though we don’t speak Turkish, the music translates for them.

Solgun Dusler, released before the album as a single and music video earlier this year, features a saxophone solo that we can’t get enough of. Budapest, is one of the few songs entirely in English on the album, is a minimal work of art that we feel highlights Wentor’s resonant vocals perfectly. Hand of Fatima, is unbearably sinister in the best way possible with a heavy throbbing underpinning synth and beautifully whispered vocals.

In our opinion, this album is one of the most immersive darkwave / dark-postpunk releases of the year and we find something new every time we re-listen to it. All of the instruments are masterfully balanced, we love the synergy of analog and digital instrumentation, and when it comes down to it, this album makes us sad and we love it. This one is going to be in our heavy rotation for a long time.

Check out more of our thoughts as we go into depth on the album in our video review below. And be sure to follow Merry’s Funeral on their social media.



Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MerrysFuneral

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/merrysfuneral

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merrysfuneral/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Merrys_Funeral

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIt1mmFBdCg63aCSpXPbzg