91Èȱ¬

I've been in a privileged position over the years to follow closely the fortunes of the 21st century Welsh rock generation as they blew away preconceived notions of what characterised Welsh music and created a new shorthand for the country's louder acts.

It's a scary thought sometimes that it's 11 years since Lostprophets' first album, Thefakesoundofprogress (although not in itself a ground-breaking album) provided the impetus for bands with a sense of melody and a volume from Wales to come to the fore. There are kids now - fans of The Blackout, Attack! Attack!, Bullet For My Valentine and Funeral For A Friend who were barely out of nappies when Thefakesound... came out.

So nowadays Welsh rock is not the same joke it used to be, it's just there, taking up pages in the specialist press and making teenagers giddy. However, bands like FFAF and BFMV aren't the brand new young chargers they were; the pressure's always on to deliver, to find new things to say, and new ways of saying them.

Welcome 91Èȱ¬ Armageddon achieves that aim, and puts Funeral back in the category of bands who matter artistically.

Welcome 91Èȱ¬ Armageddon

I might be oversimplifying things here, but here's a band who now sound as if they're totally happy with the work they're producing. It's been funded through , it's self-released and it was recorded with their friend Romesh Dodangoda. Ironically, only when freed of the pressure that comes with working with large labels have they delivered something that would have met that pressure.

It's light, heavy, dark and dexterous. There are some tracks here that hit with a force not seen since their début record, Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation. Broken Foundation sounds like Eddie Van Halen has joined the band - but no, it's Kris Coombs-Roberts stepping up to provide a solo of some panache. Previous single Front Row Seats To The End Of The World is the song most closely linked to the glass hammer of their early work as Matt Davies-Kreye's melodic vocals scrap with Ryan Richards' bellows.

Aftertaste is a fast-paced anthem while Spinning Over The Island reminds me Pennsylvania hardcore legends Boysetsfire. So many of the tracks here have an intent and a hunger. That they have achieved this on their fifth album is impressive. Instead of ennui and barely-concealed boredom Funeral deliver the most vital album of their career.

They marry the melodic skills evinced in Casually Dressed... with a maturity that avoids the saccharine or the downright tedious. Owls is the distillation of this: as epic as they come but with no descent into bedwetting indie. There's a wide palette of colours employed on this album, and as it comes to a close with the introspective title track, it's clear that it really couldn't be by anyone who hasn't been through the mill, learning the lessons and honing their craft.

It sounds clean but not clinical, forthright but not blunt, simple but not dumb. Funeral have delivered the album of their career.