| Welcome Home Armageddon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Funeral for a Friend | ||||
| Released | March 14, 2011 | |||
| Recorded |
September–December 2010 at: |
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| Genre | Post-hardcore, melodic hardcore | |||
| Length | 40:34 | |||
| Label | Distiller Records (U.K.) Good Fight Music (U.S.) |
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| Producer | Romesh Dodangoda | |||
| Funeral for a Friend chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Welcome Home Armageddon | ||||
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Welcome Home Armageddon is the fifth studio album by Welsh rock band Funeral for a Friend released on March 14, 2011 in the UK and March 15, 2011 in the US.[2]
Two songs on the album: "Sixteen" and "Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't" had previously appeared in the band's 2010 EP The Young & Defenceless.
On January 10, 2011, the band released the music video for the first single off the album, "Front Row Seats to the End of the World". The single was officially released on January 24, 2011. Furthermore on February 9, 2011, Funeral For A Friend released a music video shot for the album's second single "Sixteen". A music video for the third single, "Broken Foundation" was released in the summer of 2011.
Contents |
Explaining the album's title, vocalist Matt Davies-Kreye told College Music Update: "A friend of mine was mentioning how he felt that the best thing for the planet was for the human race to just drop dead and at times I can see and understand his way of thinking but a big part of me has this (probably) misguided faith in humanity to kind of steer the ship in the right direction for a change. So Welcome Home Armageddon is the idea of patiently waiting for the end to arrive at your doorstep and give you a nice big hug."[3]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Side of Brightness" | 0:44 |
| 2. | "Old Hymns" | 2:32 |
| 3. | "Front Row Seats to the End of the World" | 3:30 |
| 4. | "Sixteen" | 2:50 |
| 5. | "Aftertaste" | 3:37 |
| 6. | "Spinning Over the Island" | 5:03 |
| 7. | "Man Alive" | 2:49 |
| 8. | "Owls (Are Watching)" | 3:32 |
| 9. | "Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't" | 3:29 |
| 10. | "Medicated" | 3:36 |
| 11. | "Broken Foundation" | 3:29 |
| 12. | "Welcome Home Armageddon" | 5:25 |
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Total length:
|
40:34 | |
| Japanese bonus track[4] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 13. | "Breakdown Avenue" | 2:44 | |||||||
| HMV pre-order exclusive download | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 13. | "Streetcar" (Acoustic) | 3:43 | |||||||
| iTunes bonus track | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 13. | "Breakdown Avenue" | 2:44 | |||||||
| 14. | "Symbolism in the Neighbourhood" | 3:12 | |||||||
| Deluxe edition bonus DVD[5] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Symbolism in the Neighbourhood" | 3:10 | |||||||
| 2. | "Sixteen (Demo Version)" | 2:47 | |||||||
| 3. | "Sixteen (Acoustic Version)" | 3:01 | |||||||
| 4. | "Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't (Demo Version)" | 3:28 | |||||||
| 5. | "Front Row Seats To The End of The World (Video)" | 3:43 | |||||||
| 6. | "Serpents In Solitude (Video)" | 3:37 | |||||||
| 7. | "Brazilian Tour Documentary" | 9:58 | |||||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rocksound | |
| Punktastic | |
| MusicOMH | |
| Bring The Noise | |
| Sputnikmusic | [6] |
| Rocksins | |
| Kerrang! | |
| Metal Hammer | |
| Absolutepunk.net | 87% [7] |
| Daily Dischord | |
| BBC Music | (favourable) [8] |
| Allmusic | [9] |
The critical reaction to the album has been generally favourable:
Rocksound"Welcome Home Armageddon is an extremely satisfying album, for fans old and new. Ferocious and beautiful - Funeral For A Friend sound more like themselves than they have done in years."
Punktastic (4.5/5) "If there are favourites to pick, Old Hymns, Broken Foundation and Owls (Are Watching) are early frontrunners - but overall Welcome Home Armageddon is a beautifully structured joy to listen to and a reminder of everything Funeral For A Friend do so well.
Mass Movement"This album is not a return to 'old Funeral for a Friend'. Yes, it has the aggression of some of their earlier material, but this aggression is backed by some huge melodies, intricate instrumentals and great vocals. This is not a band looking back. This is a band looking and moving forward. This is a band in the best form of its existence who have written their best album thus far."
MusicOMH (3/5) "Armageddon is a sop to the disaffected fans of FFAF's pomp, and in seeking to recapture their ardour it tries too hard to pander to their needs. And from the few tracks that evidence what could have been, that's a shame."
Daily Dischord (9/10) "It'd be easy to say 'here is Casually Dressed Part 2' but that would be horrifically short sighted. Welcome Home Armageddon places Funeral for a Friend's back catalogue in the Large Hadron Collider and atomizes it, leaving its imprint writ large in their legacy for all to see.
ILikeMusic"Welcome Home Armageddon is the sound of Funeral For A Friend re-exploring the raucous spirit of their earliest work, but investing it with the melodic lessons that they've learnt in the intervening period. Their riffs are as furious and intricate as they have ever been and their choruses as catchy. Whether the end result fits into the landscape of metal music as it lies today is debatable, but it should leave the vast majority of Funeral For A Friend's fans very happy indeed."
Bring The Noise (8/10) "...although there are heavy elements on this, the Welsh favourites' fifth album, the real theme running throughout the record is that of a pop-punk masterpiece."
Red Hot Velvet (5/5) "After deserting their roots with 2007's Tales Don't Tell Themselves and then offering glimpses of excellence with its follow-up, Memory and Humanity, Funeral For A Friend have completely revitalised their sound with this phenomenal record."
Rocksins (4.5/5) "Welcome Home Armageddon' has more than enough balls and bravado to satisfy old and new fans alike. And for those of you sitting on the fence, prepare to be knocked off it. For a band that could quite easily have called it a day, this is an album seeped in euphoria, passion and optimism. It embodies the spirit of a band who are truly back at the top of their game. Welcome back, indeed."
SputnikMusic (4/5) "Simply put, this is Funeral For A Friend's best album." [6]
Absolutepunk.net (87%) "Top to bottom this album feels like a classic; a show stopper. No thrills, no cheap tricks and gimmicks. Where so many bands attempt to go back to their roots and fall short, Funeral for a Friend find themselves back in a comfort zone and pushing themselves to even better heights." [7]
Allmusic.com (3.5/5) "Welcome Home Armageddon has something that's missing from all the cookie-cutter screamo albums that have flooded the market in the 21st century: an honest to God sense of pop/rock craftsmanship."
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| Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalog number | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | March 14, 2011 | Distiller Records | CD | DTLBM006X | [10] |
| United States | March 15, 2011 | Good Fight Music | author=|date=|work=|publisher= themusicshop.com.au|accessdate=20 March 2011}}</ref> | ||
| Australia | March 18, 2011 |