FUNERAL For A Friend is one of the last remaining bastions of the British hardcore scene that exploded into the mainstream at the turn of the century.

Bursting out of Bridgend, South Wales, in 2001, Funeral For A Friend were hailed as the saviours of rock music from a young age and given the task of re-energising a scene in desperate need of fresh blood. They are veterans, in many ways, but fourteen years after their formation and the band still packs as much punch and purpose as they started with, if not more.

Their new album, Chapter & Verse (out 10 January 2015) is a classic Funeral For A Friend effort in the spectacular way it melds gruff attitude with melodic choruses, but it also happens to be one of the most sonically diverse records the band has ever made; Chapter & Verse is yet another statement that says Funeral For A Friend is not a band that can be placed in a box as easily as some would assume. Opening with vocalist Matthew Davies-Kreye’s personalised off the hinges screaming, one of Chapter & Verse’s defining features is its unapologetically political lyrical content. From wealth inequality to feminism, the lyrics are a far cry from the band’s early material and display a sense of growth that can only come from experience.

Funeral for a Friend play The Fleece, Bristol, on Thursday January 15.