Hours [CD + DVD]

The second album from Funeral for a Friend confirms that the spirit of emotional hardcore is alive and well in the valleys of South Wales. Hailed by the band as a darker follow-up to their 2003 debut, Hours strays from the time-honoured boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl template, with vocalist Matt Davies tackling topics like domestic abuse, alcoholism and the death of friends on tracks like "Roses For The Dead" and "History". Somewhat disappointingly, thereis less vocal input from drummer Ryan Richards, whose gutsy death-metal howls always proved the perfect foil for Davies sensitive, pitch-perfect tones. It´s not quite enough to unbalance Funeral¨s perfect balance between sweetness and savagery, mind: for every "Drive" is a chiming, lighters-out moment that sounds unnervingly, towards the end, like Bright Eyes is there´s a raging, thrash-tinged "The End Of Nothing" that reminds you exactly why Funeral For A Friend are still more vital, important, and plain enjoyable than 95% of the other nu-emo bands out there. CD+DVD