Hearse

A hearse is a funeral vehicle used to carry a coffin from a church or funeral home to a cemetery. In the funeral trade, hearses are often called funeral coaches.

History

Originally considered public transportation, an elaborate framework would be erected over a coffin or tomb to which memorial verses or epitaphs were attached. It was then put on the top of horse-drawn carriages, looking much like a luggage rack. Today, the original hearse remains acknowledged by the bit of scroll work or stretched-out "S" on the side of a funeral coach, called Landau bars.

Hearses were originally horse-drawn, but silent electric motorised carts were introduced as horses began to be phased out as transportation. Examples that were used in Paris were reported in the pages of Scientific American May 1907 and petrol-driven hearses began to be produced from 1909 in the United States. Motorised hearses became more widely accepted in the 1920s. The vast majority of hearses since then have been based on larger, more powerful car chassis, generally retaining the front end up to and possibly including the front doors but with custom bodywork to the rear to contain the coffin. Some early hearses also served as ambulances, owing to the large cargo capacity in the rear of the vehicle. A few cities experimented with funeral trolley cars and/or subway cars to carry both the casket and mourners to cemeteries, but these were not popular. The only exception was Chicago, IL which operated 3 different funeral trolley cars over the elevated tracks in downtown Chicago to outlying cemeteries in the western suburbs. A special funeral bureau handled the funeral trains which sometimes operated 3-4 funeral trains a week over the 'L'.

Hearse (band)

Hearse is a Swedish melodic death metal band, founded by vocalist Johan Liiva (ex-Arch Enemy) and drummer Max Thornell in 2001. The band have released five albums to date.

History

Following Johan Liiva's departure from NonExist, he decided to team up with one time Furbowl bandmate Max Thornell to form a new project. The duo soon recruited guitarist Mattias Ljung, who had not actually played any metal for several years, and recorded a demo in 2001. The band's first recording was sent to select metal press and labels, and attracted interest from Hammerheart Records. After signing a contract, the first single Torch was released in 2002, and the debut album Dominion Reptilian followed in March 2003. In the summer of 2003 Hearse started recording their second album titled Armageddon, Mon Amour. It was finally released in April 2004 on Karmageddon Media (formerly Hammerheart Records). Their third album, The Last Ordeal, was released in 2005, and their fourth release, In These Veins, was released in 2006 on Cold Records. In 2009, Hearse released their fifth album, Single Ticket To Paradise. A music video for the song "Sundown" was produced.