Black background with large gray initials "F M" and an ankh symbol. Text below reads "the FUNERAL MARCH of the MARIONETTES." It's as if It All Falls Apart in this captivating album cover, setting the tone for a dramatic musical journey.
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Released: 14 March 2025
So with the upcoming release of the final album from the Goth band The Funeral March is due to be released and I have been lucky enough to have been Sent a copy ahead of it release.

This album is kind of sad but should be looked on as a celebration of an incredible ending to what has been a great band bringing us brilliant goth music for over 30 years.

So let us delve into this album that I have given a deserved 5 well deserved stars.

I am not going to do an in depth review of this fantastic album as the proceeds are for a great cause s please do if you can afford invest in it.

Saying that I do however want to mention track two "Shadow Games", wow, what an exceptional song. The emotions that run through this song is so overwhelming. The vocals are so beautiful in the track more so than any other just because it's so perfect,

The crescendos bring the emotions to an even greater height.

The guitar riffs and the gentle drumming just ensure that this is a perfect gothic rock track. Must be one of the best. Do not be afraid to let it make you cry.

I highly recommend you get this album it truly is excellent and a testament to the band. They ended on a high

RIP Joe Whiteaker (b. 21 October 1968, d. 17 May 2024)
About

The Funeral March Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Founder / Frontman Joe Whiteaker (1968-2024) with Final Album: It All Falls Apart

From Rockford, Illinois (USA), gothic rock / post-punk band The Funeral March commemorate the life and legacy of their late founder and bandleader, Joe Whiteaker (b. 21 October 1968, d. 17 May 2024), with their final release, It All Falls Apart. Tragically, Joe lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in May of 2024, shortly after completing what would be the band’s final studio recordings. Bassist and longtime friend, Darius McCaskey, who has since taken on the task of bringing Whiteaker and The Funeral March’s final musical statement to release, says:

“I’d like people to know how proud Joe was of this record. We had a great time recording what would become It All Falls Apart with William Faith in 2023, before Joe was diagnosed with cancer, and he was able to hear the final mixes before he passed away. Joe didn’t have a specific theme in mind – each song was written independently, some even several years ago – but as tracks were selected and refined, this idea of things and people breaking down and falling apart emerged.”

The Funeral March of the Marionettes – more often simply ‘The Funeral March’ – originated in Rockford IL in 1987, drawing inspiration from seminal English acts like Bowie, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, and Joy Division. The band’s name, meanwhile, was a nod to Charles Gounod’s ‘Funeral March of a Marionette’; best known as the theme music for TV’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents. During this first phase of the band’s career, The Funeral March was active from their first gig in August 1987, until the mid-1990s, as Whiteaker later explained:

“I looked up, and I was the only original member left, and after many years of fits and starts, when it all fell apart again, I decided it was time to leave it to slumber in its crypt... dreaming the blood red dreams of madness.”

In 2017, after a long hiatus, Joe at last felt that the band’s thirtieth anniversary was the right time to resurrect the project, releasing their long overdue debut, The Raven EP: a remastered collection of unearthed recordings from the band’s early years. The revitalised group would go on to release a string of five EPs and several standalone singles, before entering the studio in 2023 to record what would become their final release, It All Falls Apart.

While there have been many incarnations of the lineup over the years, Whiteaker was joined in The Funeral March by guitarist Wayne Thiele in 2020, and bassist Darius McCaskey in 2021. This trio recorded It All Falls Apart together with producer William Faith at 13 Studio in Chicago. The band is also joined on the album by guest contributors Ria Aursjoen of Octavian Winters and AURSJOEN on additional vocals; Rob Hyman of [melter] on drums; and Renard Platine on Bass VI, while the most recent live version of The Funeral March also features guitarist Jeff Goins, and drummer Joel DeLuna. Rounding the recordings out to the band’s first album-length release, It All Falls Apart also features remixes from Tweaker, BELLHEAD, and The Joy Thieves.

It All Falls Apart by The Funeral March is released via Bandcamp on Friday, 14 March 2025, with preorders available now. The following night, Saturday 15 March, bandmembers Darius McCaskey, Jeff Goins, and Joel DeLuna come together with guest vocalists to celebrate the release at Rockford’s RPL Nordlof Center, with support from special guests TATV GRAL, [melter], BELLHEAD, and William Faith. The show will also be streaming live from the group’s Bandcamp. The new video for the album’s title track and lead single, ‘It All Falls Apart’, premieres via Post-punk.com on Monday, 10 March 2025: the first of two video singles from the album. These music videos are the last time Joe Whiteaker would be captured on film.

Joe leaves behind a wife and two children, and all proceeds from the release of It All Falls Apart will directly support the family.

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