Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Label: Regain Records

So Johan Norman of Soul Reaper and Dissection fame runs into Alexander Friburg from Juggernaut and Karneywar and they decide to start up a band. Call up Necrophobic’s throatworker Tobias, a drummer named Jonas, and eventually an unknown guitarist named Ewo, and they’ve got a full lineup. And with that lineup they create an album that is some seriously creepy sounding blackened death metal.
Riffs are fast and furious, with leads that sometimes go a bit slower, to lead you along. The drums are blasting like motherfuckers, and Tobias is a wonderful vocalist for this band. It’s like all the great things about Belphegor, Dissection, and Ackercocke mixed with some Behemoth and Morbid Angel, and retaining that sense of melodicism and brutality that only the Swedish have mastered.
My favorite tracks are “Jaws of Satan”, “Black Velvet Wings”, “Slaves to Anguish”, and the gorgeous super Swedish sounding instrumental track “Blackened Souls”. But of course, what band has a title track that doesn’t kick ass? Because “World Destruction” as a song is unfuckingreal.
This is one band that is not fucking around, and I don’t think that they’re going anywhere but up in the metal world. Taking us to hell every step of the way. And I know i’m going to love the journey.
8.5 out of 10.

Since the release of 2008′s groundbreaking debut In Waking: Divinity, New England metallers THE BREATHING PROCESS have prided themselves on the hybrid nature of their music. Splicing symphonic black metal with brutal death metal, the band further manage to introduce elements of epic ambience and melody unseen by most acts in today’s realm of heavy music. Now with the release of Odyssey: (Un)Dead the band look to break through to a larger audience delivering an amazing album that is already eagerly anticipated.

Odyssey: (Un)Dead features 12 tracks and was produced by Dave Otero (Cephalic Carnage). Conceptually based on a single person’s journey down the path of exile,the new songs progress in bold, varying movements that emphasize the power and landscapes of the world’s natural elements: Oceans, forests, great plains, glaciers and deserts. These elements are reflected in the songs themselves, almost as if each song is an interpretation of the world’s vastness. Huge, grandiose keyboard flourishes blend with pulverizing riffs and breakneck drumming, topped off by a perfect balance of screamed and sung vocal patterns — it is a treasured listen.

In addition, The Breathing Process will be performing a handful of east coast dates prior to the record’s release:

2/17/2010 Mojo 13 – Wilmington, DE
2/18/2010 Championship Bar – Trenton, NJ
2/19/2010 Tuxedo Junction – Danbury, CT
2/20/2010 Bogies – Albany, NY
2/21/2010 Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
2/26/2010 The Warehouse – Hartford, CT w/ Silent Civilian
2/27/2010 The Pal – Fall River, MA

Odyssey: (Un)Dead will be released on the US on March 9th via Candlelight Records.

The Breathing Process on MySpace.

Emerging from the caustic burrows of Chicago comes the monolith of metal known as LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR, a sonic “fuck you” to the current trends and sub-genres of metal who carry the torch of metal’s roots (Celtic Frost, Slayer, Motorhead) with a death breath of fresh air, and spitting gas on the flames.

The Greek mythology-inspired carnage continues on LOTM’s upcoming fourth full-length, Evil Power. The CD and digital download will be released on April 13, 2010 on The Grind-House Records, an independent record label started by Steve Rathbone, Chris Wozniak (both from LOTM) and Josh Diebel (former head of Alleysweeper Records). The record will be distributed by Southern Lord, who have released the band’s previous three albums on CD and vinyl, two EPs and DVD.

Evil Power lays all in its path to waste with an approach as heavy as the Kraken, while showing off the band’s heavy rock and punk influences. A deluxe LP version will be released in late summer 2010, featuring a bonus track not available on CD or digital download. Check out the Scott Jackson cover art, and hear the track “We Are Hades” at the band’s MySpace page now.

The album was recorded in the dead of winter in Chicago at Semaphore Studios by Sanford Parker, and mastered by Scott Hull. Rathbone states, “If War Metal Battle Master was the war, Evil Power is the party after a bloody victory.” The album features new bassist, Nate Olp (vocalist/bassist of Demiricous) and guest backing vocals by General Diabolical Slaughter (Usurper), bringing mucho mayhem to the fold.

A new video for the title track, “Evil Power”, will be released with the album. Rathbone warns, “There will be blood! This video is unrelentingly brutal.” Directed by Ryan Oliver, the special effects master behind the “War Metal Battle Master” video and head of Chicago based Deathblow Productions. His credits include The Toolbox Murders and Among the Dead. The video’s horror theme graphically details the torment of some unlucky virgins, sacrificed to the mighty Minotaur. An uncut version will be available on the web (also in HD), and a TV edit will be shown on MTV2/Headbangers Ball, Fuse and On Demand.

Coinciding with the release, the band is headlining a U.S. tour through the Midwest and East Coast in April:

4/16/2010 Melody Inn – Indianapolis, IN
4/17/2010 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH
4/19/2010 M Room – Philadelphia, PA
4/20/2010 Sonar – Baltimore, MD
4/21/2010 The Charleston – Brooklyn, NY
4/22/2010 Velvet Lounge – Washington DC
4/23/2010 Broadway Joe’s – Buffalo, NY
4/24/2010 The Summit – Columbus, OH