I reviewed Funeral Horse’s 2014 EP Sinister Rites of the Master (Artificial Head) and still recall that marauding yet tuneful promise. Four years later, and I’m here with sophomore album Psalms For The Mourning (Artificial Head), a subtler beast shooting that Stoner template through with added invention and a touch of maturity.

Opener ‘Better Half Of Nothing’ rollicks along at a mid-paced canter, Paul Bearer’s buzzsaw riffs and shoutalong chorus interspersed with a bass/lead centrepiece and concluded with a surprising horn section. The beginning of ‘No Greater Sorrow (Than My Love)’ marries Santana’s ‘Black Magic Woman’ with The Doors’ ‘Riders on the Storm’ before pushing into a morose Delta workout. It’s clear that the Texan trio has grown more comfortable withdrawing from its myriad influences and, while “da Blues” is always a healthy undercurrent, the oft slouching pace is lightened by other senior styles of music. ‘Emperor of All Maladies’ has a sparing progression yet is given a chilled groove by B-Movie rhythms and Jazz inflections, before building to a rampant, howling finale.

The brief ‘1965’ is a gorgeous, acoustic harbinger of the next summer of love, while more syncopated rhythms usher in the frantic ‘Sacrifice of a Thousand Ships’: its roared vocal and urgent, pulverising bedrock bringing to mind the more brutal sides of Mastodon or YOB, but with a warm production cushioning the blows. The nostalgic ‘Divinity for the Wicked’, meanwhile, comes across as a jaunty blend of Blue Ӧyster Cult and Mott The Hoople, Chris Bassett’s mesmerising stickwork underpinning a glorious Seventies vibe.

The moods twist and turn within each track; ‘Burial Under The Sun’ initially carries a monstrous weight before more heavy fuzz rolls back into town, ending with an icicle-drop piano that breaks the heart. ‘Evel Knievel Blues’ finishes this eclectic set with a fast Country workout, all twanging guitars layered with a pixelating vocal, which would be comfortably at home within the ruts of Physical Graffiti.

Often albums can lurch from one style to another so violently that they become disjointed, a paean to so many heroes that some become lost in the melee. There’s a genuine warmth and attractiveness to the Funeral Horse sound, however, keeping the listener hooked whilst wondering what on earth is coming next. It’s a delightful curio well worth your investigation.

7.0/10.0

PAUL QUINN