Classic Day – Bleak Forecast

To collect the names of some of the biggest influences in music coming from a gothic standpoint, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds deserve to be at the peak of that last. Rundown through emotionally draining instrumentation and physically draining lyrical ability, Your Funeral… My Trial is a project for a hanging.

The fourth studio record coming from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, much of Your Funeral… My Trial plays as this storybook rises and setting through the first track, “Sad Waters.” Describing Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds almost perfectly, “Sad Waters” forces the audience to wade through this distraught and almost hellish depiction of life from vocalist Nick Cave.

Framing as a love story originally, images of the wild west tilt into the frame with somber guitars that bleed into the narration. Instrumentally, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds consist of Cave as the primary vocalist and key player. Backing begins with Mick Harvey on the bass guitar, guitar, percussion, and backing vocals. Alongside on guitar follows Blixa Bargeld and also Barry Adamson on the bass. Finally, Thomas Wydler finishes the percussion and adds on “She Fell Away,” a fire extinguisher of all devices.

While the title track “Your Funeral My Trial” hits fairly early at the third track in the mix, it becomes this monumental and frankly destructive battle between sludge-mixed bass tones and Cave’s depressing and sinking performance.

In this comfortably numb situation, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are a masterpiece of style and grain. The upbeat piano which strikes the keys between isolated bass notes sets the table for Cave to illustrate some of his most in-depth writing.

He says, “I am a crooked man, and I’ve walked a crooked mile. Night, the shameless widow, doffed her weeds, in a pile…” As the instrumentation appears almost droning at this point, Cave continues later, “Here I am, little lamb. Let all the bells in whoredom ring, all the crooked bitches that she was. Mongers of pain saw the moon, become a fang. Your funeral, my trial. Your funeral my trial.”

Even after Your Funeral… My Trial has stopped as a record, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds almost beg to have the title-cut “Your Funeral My Trial” played again and again like some distant memory of an entire life flashing before the eyes.

In the same notion, “Hard On For Love” is blitzing in instrumentation but becomes this almost preaching moment for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Together as a group, They capture the audience and spend more time in this interrogation sequence. Instead of questions, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds deliver more of a pummeling and overwhelming display where the audience spends time scrambling to find a narrow rhythm to follow.

This trance-like state takes over and controls the audience, pushing them further and further toward this harrowing black abyss. As the feet desperately claw into the earth, trying to save oneself from the enormous mass grave, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds appear to be more than just in control on Your Funeral… My Trial; They become divinity.

Listen To Your Funeral… My Trial Here!!! – Spotify/iTunes