Few albums bowled over the AMG staff like Fvneral Fvkk’s 2019 Carnal Confessions debut did. Drawing on epic doom legends like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus, as well as 90s Peaceville heavy hitters like Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, Fvneral Fvkk crafted something truly special wrapped in a heavily liturgical soundscape and based around the Catholic Church’s vast history of child sex abuse. It was easily my Record o’ the Year and one of the best metal albums of the decade. It was so good, in fact, that most people were even willing to overlook the band’s completely ass-tastic name, which is no easy feat. It’s taken these Fvkks forever to deliver the follow-up to their monumental statement on gloom and woe, but this week, sophomore album Indecent Idols finally arrives with very big shoes to fill. With a second guitarist added to round out their sound, and the same basic Fvkk template in place, can these mysterious German monks catch doom lightning in a holy water font twice? I suppose bigger miracles have happened (see the Knicks championship). Are you ready for an altar call?
After a very holy and pious intro that gets you in the Sunday mass mindset, “Crosses to the Gallows” rolls out in all its vestments and finery. It goes heavy on the vintage Solitude Aeturnus vibes, with vocalist Cantor Cinaedicus sounding a lot like Robert Lowe at times. It’s that same massive, epic doom sound that crushed you on Carnal Confessions, and those dour, mournful riffs and harmonies often reek of Paradise Lost in the best possible ways. It’s a killer doom gem. Fvkk circles back around to the church sex abuse theme on “A Hidden Threnody,” with chilling and frankly revolting soundbites from interviews with an Archbishop opening and closing the song. It’s a gripping song full of grim tidings, and the band know how to leverage pathos without getting overly maudlin. And those fucking soundbites, man…Jesus! “The Beasts of Speyer” is a HUGE doom sonnet that sounds like the love child of prime Paradise Lost and While Heaven Wept. It’s so packed with bleak emotion and depressive tones that it will kill your mellow even if you just won the Powerball jackpot. That sullen lead melody will bring you low, and Cantor’s vocals are so plaintive and despondent, there is simply no escaping the feelz. Even the mildly uplifting guitar work feels like false hope, which is the worst of the hopes.
Indecent Idols saves some of its best moments for later. The 8-minute album centerpiece “Bishop of the Iron Guard” is a monolithic epic doom cut with a killer atmosphere, top-flight vocals, and an unrelentingly cheerless vibe. When it seques into death metal-adjacent riffs and grooves around the halfway point, it hits like a runaway cement truck. Cantor should get a promotion in the Church of Metal for his huge performance on this one. The absolute best/beast arrives dead last with closer “Even in Death/We Possess You.” This one feels like a lost track from Carnal Confessions, and it’s every bit as stellar as the rest of that godly album. It’s a soul-killing piece of brilliantly rendered doom packed full of beautifully melancholic moments, and it’s haunting in a way that will reach into your body and extract your heart. Only the very best doom metal does this. The guitar work starting at 5:24 onward is so gorgeous, it can’t just be heard; it must be experienced. At a tight 42 minutes with no letdowns at all, Indecent Idols is another holy hand grenade of Candlemassive doom that cannot be ignored or denied.
I’m not sure how this mötley crëw creates music this consistently harrowing and beautiful, but this makes two albums in a row where Fvneral Fvkk knocked me for a loop with their morose compositions. The guitar work by Decanus Obscaenus and new gun Pastor Pellex is gorgeously rendered and lays the groundwork for so much emotion and atmosphere. The heavy doom riffs are there in classic Candlemass style, and all the forlorn trills and harmonies bring great sadness and grief to the ear. They even introduce death and black metal elements sparingly but effectively, giving the material an extra sense of danger and dread. Over the top of it all, Cantor Cinaedicus soars with the angels, his baritone crooning conveying a somber gravitas that perfectly suits the music. He’s just about as perfect a doom vocalist as you’ll hear, and he delivers bigly here, weaving webs of gripping, melancholic majesty. It’s a triumph for all involved.
If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t give Fvneral Fvkk a shot in Hell of releasing anything comparable to Carnal Confessions, and I assumed that was why the wait for a follow-up was so long. While Indecent Idols isn’t quite as towering a doom edifice as its predecessor, it doesn’t fall far off from that same level of divine greatness. I feel great shame for doubting these sacred apostles of doom, and I will henceforth seek penance in reviewing crappy metalcore as I pray for forgiveness. If you love doom and sleep on this album, you will be excommunicated from the faith forevermore. CONVERT!
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dying Victims
Websites: fvneralfvkk.de | facebook.com/fvneralfvkk | instagram.com/fvneralfvkk
Releases Worldwide: October 23rd, 2026
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