Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Century Media

Where to begin with Divine Heresy… I guess I should start with my thoughts on their first album, Bleed the Fifth: I loved it. There wasn’t a thing about it that I didn’t gush about to anyone who cared to listen. “Killer drummer!” “Dino does solos? Awesome!” “Amazing vocals!” and so on. So when I picked up Bringer of Plagues, I was a little skeptical… and rightfully so. One of both mine and Echidna’s favorite things about Bleed the Fifth was the vocal versatility of ex-band member Tommy Vext (we all know what happened there, so I’ll just be on my way with the rest of the review [for those that don't, check Headbanger's Blog. -G.B.]). Fortunately, the new vocalist (Travis Neal of The Bereaved and many other bands) is a more than adequate replacement!
Bringer of Plagues is on par with Bleed the Fifth as far as melo-death ferocity goes. But Bringer of Plagues surpasses it’s predecessor in the lyricism and catchiness departments. Travis really knows his shit when it comes to writing lyrics that just pull you right in! The song “Letter To Mother” and, I guess you can call it the ballad, “Darkness Embedded” are prime examples of his poetic skills. As for his vocal abilities, yeah, they’re just as good. His hardcore bellows are straight forward and filled to the brim with rage! While his clean vocals… well, they’re serviceable. They sound a little forced at times, but are definitely better than I thought they’d be without getting a second vocalist exclusively for clean vocals.
Overall, Bringer of Plagues is everything you’ve come to expect from Divine Heresy. The infamous Dino Cazares still writes his metal for Soul Of A New Machine Vol. 2.0 (still fucking awesome!), cemented, badassed bassist extraordinaire Joe Payne brings the thump and bang on a level of destruction that rivals the apocalypse and one of the greatest skin beaters of our time, Mr. Tim Yeung continues to do what he does best; kick those petals so fast that he can travel through time! It’s definitely easy to hear and then say that Bringer of Plagues is the superior Divine Heresy album. – :)

Divine Heresy on MySpace.

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

Genre: Pop, Progressive, Punk
Label: Shit Music for Shit People

My original question when hearing this 7″ was: What the fuck?
It’s four tracks of great stuff that almost seems more like a compilation of different bands than only one band. But alas, this is only one band.
Seeming to mix a bit of indie and punk with Britpop and some prog elements (but definitely not as far as song lengths), these Italians sound a little like The Hives, Tegan and Sara, and other odd shit like that. I like it quite a lot, and I’ve listened to it a fair amount of times, and every time I do I can find something new in it that I like.
7 out of 10.

Genre: Blackened Death Metal, Thrash
Label: Ibex Moon

Opening up with one of the thrashiest riffs EVER, Divine Eve’s new EP is fucking tits.
Blackened and grumpy, this is not a CD to just chill to. This is a CD you grab a case of Bud, some bud, and a few of your buddies and bang your head to.
If you’ve never listened to Divine Eve before, Vengeful and Obstinate is harkening back to the old school – where Divine Eve are from – while bringing the sound to modern levels, not the other way around.
The biggest thing wrong with it is that it’s only four tracks long! Throw in really cool artwork and the fact that it’s on Ibex Moon, and we’ve got a winner!
8.5 out of 10.

Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom
Label: Paragon Records

I don’t get much live material anymore since I stated that I’m not a huge fan unless I’m there, getting my ass kicked in the pit when it’s recorded. After listening to Dimentianon’s live promo, my feelings have changed slightly. I’m thoroughly impressed with this promo’s production! The clarity in which all of the songs lunge out at you with is worthy of some sort of audio production award (“The Deven Townsie Award” or something less gay sounding)! As for the performance that Dimentianon dishes out: marvelous! You can tell that these vicious fucks have a surplus of death metallic energy that flows from their respective instruments, into the recorded crowd, out the speakers and into your very fucking soul! Unfortunately, this promo is only five songs long. (I never thought I’d complain about a live CD being too short…) This shit is high octane death metal that’ll burn your face clean off and command that you pick up the rest of this NYC bands material. I ordered mine yesterday!

9/10

Dimentianon On MySpace

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom
Label: Paragon Records

Black metal with great execution, Dimentianon is a band that should be noticed. A touch of death metal can be felt, more than heard, on this live disc. The band sounds like they are owning the stage, giving hell to people who are obviously not moving around, and getting a great cheer and applause. The five songs are well written, and the sound is deadly. Concidering the fact that most live albums are pretty much “greatest hits” collections, if you’re unfamiliar with Dimentianon, start with this disc. It’s fucking great. Stand out tracks for me are “It Never Ends” and “Netzach”, which also appeared on a Metal Maniac’s CD. I give the promo 7 out of 10, and I think I might get the full version soon.