funkyhell

{{Infobox album

| name = funkyhell

| type = album

| cover = haloblack - funkyhell.jpg

| alt =

| released = {{Start date|1996|10|1}}{{cite journal |first=Becky |last=Barnhart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8EZAQAAIAAJ |title=Schwann Spectrum |journal=Schwann Spectrum |publisher=Stereophile |date=2000 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=112 |isbn=9781575980782 |access-date=August 16, 2020}}

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = {{Collapsible list|title=Various|titlestyle=font-weight:normal;font-size:12px;background:transparent;text-align:left|{{Plainlist|

Bit
{{small|(Minneapolis, Minnesota)}}
Synergy
{{small|(Minneapolis, Minnesota)}}
Twist
{{small|(New York City)}}

}}}}

| genre = Industrial rock

| length = 43:38

| label = Fifth Colvmn

| producer = Bryan Barton

| prev_title = raw tension e.p.

| prev_year = 1995

| next_title = Throb

| next_year = 2004

| misc = {{Extra album cover

| header = Alternative cover

| type = studio

| cover = haloblack - funkyhell (Alternate).jpg

| caption = Limited edition cover

}}

funkyhell (or sylized as :funkyhell:) is the second studio album by haloblack, released on November 1, 1994, by Fifth Colvmn Records.{{cite magazine |first=Larry |last=Flick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgcEAAAAMBAJ|title=Reviews & Previews: Singles |magazine=Billboard |publisher= |date=September 7, 1996 |volume=108 |issue=36 |pages=99 |access-date=August 16, 2020}}{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9uYwm-dwInwC |title=RPM |magazine=CMJ New Music Monthly |date=February 8, 1999 |pages=28 |access-date=August 16, 2020}}{{cite magazine|first=Ed |last=Finkler |author-link=Ed Finkler |url=https://sonic-boom.com/interview/haloblack.interview.html |title=Interview with haloblack |magazine=Sonic Boom |date=January 24, 1997 |volume=5 |issue=1 |access-date=August 16, 2020}} The album represented the band's musical shift from a guitar dominated syle into a minimalist approach to dark ambient and electronic music composition.

Reception

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite web |first=Tom |last=Schulte |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000478069|pure_url=yes}}|title=Haloblack: Funkyhell > Review |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=August 16, 2020}}

}}

Aiding & Abetting gave funkyhell a positive review, saying "I love "dirty" electronic music albums" and "Bryan Black (aka Haloblack) has crafted a fine set of experimental industrial tunes.{{cite journal|first=Jon |last=Worley |url=http://www.aidabet.com/archives/archH.html#HALOBLACK |title=Haloblack: Funkyhell |journal=Aiding & Abetting |date=January 13, 1997 |issue=126 |access-date=August 16, 2020}} Tom Schulte of AllMusic called the album "an impressionistic headspace, electronica incompatible for the dancefloors of even neo-gothic club nights." Last Sigh Magazine praised the contributions of the guest artists and said "it continues right where Tension Filter left off, the sound remains constant and is just as good if not better than Tension Filter."{{cite magazine |first=Mike |last=Santarpia |url=http://www.lastsigh.com/reviews/haloblackmacro2.htm |title=HaloBlack: :Funky Hell: |magazine=Last Sigh Magazine |date=1998 |volume=1 |issue=3 |access-date=August 16, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603004656/http://www.lastsigh.com/reviews/haloblackmacro2.htm |archive-date=June 3, 2009}}

More negative in their critique of the album was Option, who was critical of "the relentless 4/4 beats, the cheap arcade video game soundtracks, the pseudo-creepy whispered vocals and the campy banality of heaaawvy lyrics."{{cite magazine |first=Bill |last=Tilland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDBLAAAAYAAJ |title=Haloblack: funkyhell |magazine=Option |publisher=Sonic Options Network |date=1997 |volume=72–77 |pages=108}} Sonic Boom criticized the band's lack of musical progression from their previous work and stated "there is zero deviation in the whispered vocal arrangement, all of the percussion loops are extremely stifled, and many of the sounds are reused from track to track."{{cite magazine|first=Chris |last=Christian |url=https://sonic-boom.com/review/haloblack-2.html |title=Haloblack: Funkyhell |magazine=Sonic Boom |date=January 1997 |volume=5 |access-date=August 16, 2020}}

Track listing

{{track listing

| all_writing = Bryan Barton

| title1 = Distractor

| length1 = 5:19

| title2 = Regulator

| length2 = 4:18

| title3 = Nympho

| length3 = 4:52

| title4 = Lovesick

| length4 = 5:14

| title5 = Drylips

| length5 = 4:30

| title6 = Bounded

| length6 = 1:52

| title7 = Fragment

| length7 = 3:46

| title8 = Resonance

| length8 = 3:46

| title9 = Seducto

| length9 = 3:04

| title10 = Into the Tension Filter

| length10 = 3:45

| title11 = Untitled

| length11 = 3:12

}}

Personnel

Adapted from the funkyhell liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title=funkyhell |title-link=funkyhell |others=haloblack |year=1996 |type=booklet |publisher=Fifth Colvmn Records |location=Washington, DC}}

haloblack