Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Death Metal
Label: Regain Records

I’m going to keep this review short and sweet since I conveniently don’t really need to say much about Grave’s newest effort Burial Ground.

It’s been two years since Dominion VIII. Have Grave matured since then? No. Did they need to? No. Is this album any good? Of course. Grave pretty much have their fan base right where they want them and Grave’s fan base have Grave right where they want them. It’s a wonderful symbiotic relationship where both sides get exactly what they desire:

Fans Get: Another album of mid-paced death metal, complete with the same fairly weak, yet serviceable vocals, lots of crashes and snare and plenty of vintage riffs.

Grave Gets: Yet another album under their belt and a little bit of cash for their effort. (Hopefully the gratitude of their fans is in there somewhere as well…)

Overall: It’s Swedish. It’s death metal. It’s Grave. It’s awesome.

8.5/10

Grave On MySpace

Also Posted On E-MetalSpace

Genre: Death Metal, Deathcore, Metalcore, Hardcore, Prog, Punk, 8-Bit, Etc…
Label: Independent

If it’s one thing I appreciate about running this little operation (among the MANY things, that is), it’s when someone says that they’re going to send me something and then about a week later, I get SOMETHING in the mail!!! It’s like Xmas at the mailbox! (In this case, it was Fxmas! Ha!) This is more of a thanks to Fxzero and all of the other bands that give me a heads up about them sending me something in the mail and then following through.

Anyway, the review is as follows:

Starting things off with a Shao Kahn soundbite from the epic flop known as Mortal Kombat Annihilation, doesn’t exactly instill me with much in the way of confidence in this EP. Then the tunes actually begin… a heavy (deathcore-y) bass, mixed with some crushing (death metal/melodic metalcore-ish) guitars and the insane ramblings of a roaring mic wielding madman (with a hardcore meets metalcore approach) kick up the sonic maelstrom that is the opening track; Pizza For Dinner. Queen Elizabeth (or Track 3 if you really care to know) is a stunning blend of NY hardcore (in string form as well as some of the beats) and crusty prog… Repeat: NYHXC + Crusty Prog + Death Vocals = Mind blown and pants jizzed!!!

Lastly, the Outro to this six track EP (something I’d normally gripe about) is a doozy of a fun little Easter Egg. It’s starts off with what sounds like a little jam session and then, like a left hook from Amazo, a bleepity-bloodily rendition of the battle score from Pokemon chimes in and plays this mind-boggling EP out and into my collection of awesome metal!

Overall: A dizzying mix of metalcore, death metal, prog, hardcore and even some 8-bit shit and punk! It’s a little overwhelming in some spots, but it bound to find an audience in alienated nerdlings with bad complexions and crippling social ineptitudes… like me!

9/10

Fxzero On MySpace

Also Posted On E-MetalSpace

NOTE: THIS MAY BE EDITED IN THE FUTURE. EDITS ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN.

There are some major changes happening with what I’ve been calling the SuperComp.
It seems that all too many bands are interested in the idea I’ve had, but no one really wants to commit, except a very small few. So I’m going to make some changes to the compilation itself, to hopefully make everything better for everyone.
The packaging will no longer be a 4-panel Digipak, but rather a jacket, much like a record sleeve, which means I am now only looking for three artists. One for the front, one for the back, one for the CD face.
Everyone on the compilation, artists and bands alike, will recieve 25 copies of the CD, and everyone pays $100 to help cover the production and shipping costs of the CD (what was originally the price for an artist while bands were to pay $150).
More copies can be made available at cost, so if you want more than 25 it can definitely be arranged.
Finally, this will be a PROFESSIONALLY pressed CD. Not a CDR. There will be the requisite shrink wrap and barcode, everything that would make this CD available in a store like HMV or on Amazon.
Any questions, please comment the MySpace blog post. Thank you.

Genre: Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Symphonic Power Metal
Label: AFM Records

Oh my, oh my. What to call this? Good, for one, that’s obvious. But really, genre wise, what should I say? It’s got a ton of Power Metal, some Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal, and Progressive Metal. And I think there’s even some thrash elements smacking my eardrum here.
How about this: Neverland bring a Progressive Symphogoth Power Metal to the listener that hearkens to Judas Priest-meets-Lacuna Coil-through-Metallica-covering-Iced Earth. Sound fucked up enough for you? I assure you, skeptic, that it works. Wonderfully. I’m genuinely liking Neverland a lot, and their awesome sound on Ophidia. It’s got Metalgasmic solos, a stunning rhythm section, and some seriously awesome traditional metal vocals.
If you call yourself a metalhead, you’ll like this. If you worship at the Temple of Trad, you’ll love it.
7.5 out of 10.

Neverland on MySpace.

Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Label: Napalm Records

Taking the more Swedish approach to blackened death (Dissection, Unanimated) rather than the Polish (Behemoth), the German band Thulcandra remind me of Immortal as well, especially Sons of Northern Darkness era. The entire album is encased in a frozen atmosphere, while still retaining a little bit of melodic evil at it’s blackened core.
The blast beats were handled by Seraph from Dark Fortress as a session drummer, and as always his drumming is great, and really suits the music itself, which was originally written by Steffen Kummerer and Juergen Zintz. After Zintz’s death in 2005, Kummerer re-worked the songs, then joined forces with Helfahrt’s Tobias and Sebastien Ludwig to finish Fallen Angel’s Dominion.
After pretty much six years since this album was started, it’s finally released, and it’s a great disc. I strongly recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of the aforementioned Dissection, Unanimated, and Immortal.
8 out of 10.

Thulcandra on MySpace.