Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy/Nu Metal
Label: Independent

Up next, we’ve got a French band, who’s album I’ve been sitting on for a while. Abinaya plays a mixture of heavier nu-metal akin to the likes of Soulfly (and I’m not just saying that because there are bongos on almost every song) or Tool or maybe even Disturbed and hard rock. Now before the vast majority of you navigate away from this page to go download girl-on-goat porn, Corps isn’t a band that tries to piggyback on bands that were popular ten years ago. Abinaya takes what WAS exciting about a genre that grew incredibly stale all those years ago and turned it into something that resembles metal by adding their own lethal touch to it!

Vocally, there’s a lot of cleans that feels more like the vocalist was just pissed off and used the mic to vent his anger and pour his soul into every word. So even though the lyrics are in French, I still got the feeling that I knew what was being said… As for as the four and six strings are concerned it’s a case Yin & Yang: the guitarist flings a flurry of furious fireballs at the listener while the bass keeps things harmonious with it hypnotic bouncing and booming, calming and just. Well crafted. And then we get to the drum work. It’s pretty damn good… when you can hear it. Now, I don’t know if it was an error or by choice, but I could barely hear them most of the time. I mean, the double bass (when it happened) shot through ok, but mostly all I heard was the vocalist and guitar. Hmm…

Overall: Abinaya is goin’ places. You can quote me on that. I’m sure their next album will be harder and hopefully faster that Corps. And for that, I’m thoroughly excited!

9.5/10

Abinaya On MySpace

Genre: Doom, Groove, Hard Rock
Label: Giddy Up Records

Death Row? PENTAGRAM?!?! …A Place Of Skulls. Some say it’s progression. Some say regression. But none seem to hold them all around or in the same regard. I for one, can see and appreciate what Victor and Lee are shooting for; Hard rockin’ doom with some groovy breaks and soulful… ballad-ish-ness? Ok, that last bit caught me off guard and pretty much puts me out there with the rest of you going “Boooooo!” already.

As A Dog Returns is kind of preachy bit of music (but you already knew it was gonna be) and that takes a couple of points off from yours truly. Victor Griffen’s voice is spot on for the kind of stuff they’re peddling, but has seen better days, I’m sure. Griffen’s licks are pretty sweet when he gets into a weird acid rock kinda zone as well. Lee Abney’s bass is way the hell up in the mix, more so than I would of excepted regardless of the genre. On top of that, it’s pretty “meh” all things considered. The shining star of this trio is drummer Tim Tomaselli. He brings a groovy presence that As A Dog Returns truly needed. But it’s to little to late.

Overall: There are many spots in this album that remind me of radio rock while others recall times of doom metal’s heyday. But the latter are too few and too far between to really give a shit. I wanted to like As A Dog Returns, but it just didn’t take.

4/10

A Place Of Skulls On MySpace
A Place Of Skulls Official

Genre: Doom
Label: Independent

Brigantia was the second band I’d discovered from Ireland way back in the day, when I first started Funeral Rain, and I’ve been following them since. And finally, even though I’ve listened to it a billion times, I figured I should review their newest E.P., The Chronic Argonauts.
Black Sabbath would be proud to hear this E.P. I think. The Chronic Argonauts truly hearkens to the Ozzy-fronted version of the band, especially the Paranoid album. Another comparison that would be suitable would be Griftegård, one of my favorite doom bands ever.
The bass is nice and mid-range, with gorgeously crunchy guitars that have a beautiful riff structure. Drums are laid back, with a little pop to the snare, but hidden in behind everything, helping to hold it together, not being the lead. Just like classic true dooooooooooom.
It’s available on CD (contact the band via MySpace) as well as a free download.
9 out of 10.

Brigantia on MySpace.

Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: SPV GmbH

This here is my first taste of Axel Rudi Pell, even though the band has been around forever and I’ve seen their ads in various magazines since I was thirteen and reading crap like Hit Parader. And I’m glad I finally got the chance to check this awesome shit out.
This is fucking METAL, man, and it’s great to hear an actual SINGER once in awhile (we all know I love my screaming and grunting, but really, singing kicks ass too). The guitars are minimalistic, simple arrangements, at least in comparison to a lot of the other stuff that Typhon and I are usually listening to, and the bass and guitar are pretty much standard classics as far as sound and feel go. The songs in general are verse, chorus, verse, repeat, and full of solid hooks with Metalgasmic solos (especially the song “Prisoner of Love”, the solo is just glorious). Like I said, fucking METAL.
It’s easy to see I’m loving this, and it’s hard to type the review when I want to pump my fist.
8 out of 10.

Genre: Progressive Black Metal
Label: Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions

Another oddity in the black metal scene that pushes the boundaries of what the genre can be. It’s grim and kvlt and all that such ‘n’ forth, but it’s seeming to take different routes to get there.
I can hear some Iowa album Slipknot in “Storm is Coming”, the second track, which is a spellbinding song in itself, as well as some death metal here and there and touches of thrash, tribal, and industrial in other places on the album.
In all, it’s a shitkicker. Don’t expect the same recycled riffs, stagnant vocals, or pure blackened blast beats. Just expect to have your perceptions roughed up.
7.5 out of 10.