Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Metalcore
Label: Metal Blade

As I Lay Dying. (Still with me?)

Yes, we all know them. Some of us LOVE them. Some of us HATE them. But I know that we can all agree on two things:

1) Tim Lambesis has a ridiculously funny last name, and…
2) Decas is a cash grab created to rake it in on the coming of their tenth year as “that band that has no business being on Metal Blade”.

Yeah, there are three brand new tracks, all of which are decent in their own rights. The melodic guitars, built on the foundation that An Ocean Between Us laid down and The Powerless Rise (supposedly) perfected, are pretty much the only thing that stands out as “exciting”. Other than the three new tracks, we have four remixes (club/dub-stepy bullshit) and a re-recorded medley of Beneath The Encasing. Ugh… I promise, I’m trying really hard to be fair here!

But the main focus here are the abysmal covers of Slayer’s War Ensemble and Judas Priest’s Hellion (Why?) and Electric Eye! (There is a cover of the Descendents’s Coffee Mug, but do you really care?) While the instrumentation isn’t bad at all, the vocals, both bellows and clean, just fucking kill any redeeming qualities I could muster.

Is this review even necessary? Those of you who hate As I Lay Dying weren’t going to buy it and were already ragging on them for covering Slayer and Priest, while those of you who love them already have your pre-orders in. Oh well… at least now you know what I think.

Overall: I just can’t help but think that there just wasn’t a whole lot of effort put out by As I Lay Dying in Decas. Like I said earlier, it’s a cash grab for gullible (or supremely dedicated) fans to blow their money on. I’d avoid it if you could help it.

3.5/10

As I Lay Dying Official
As I Lay Dying On Facebook

Genre: Nu-Metal, Industrial, Rock
Label: Independent

I’ll admit it… that’s one creepy looking album cover.

Other than that, what can I really say about this album? Well, it’s definitely an album. There’s music on it. When you put it in a device that plays CDs, sounds come out of the attached speakers. That’s good, right?

Man, I really don’t want to be mean or to rag on these guys because I can tell that they poured their hearts and souls into this album, but I just can’t get into it. Everything about Another Failure In The Making just seems like it missed the boat by about ten years. I have a feeling that if this came out around 2000-ish, I might of been in to it and/or knew some guys that would of been into it.

There are moments of fun and whatnot hidden between the banal song writing and repetitiveness. The vocalist really seems to enjoy his style of screaming. You can really hear the boiling anger just seething behind every word. And I can’t really complain too much about a band that writes a catchy jump riff like the same three or four recycled through this album… argh. I guess I can. Sorry.

I should note that the only reason I gave this album/band the multiple genre distinction, is because I just couldn’t pin down what these guys were aiming for, not because they took three different genres and melded them together coherently. Because they didn’t. Each track sounds pretty much like a carbon copy of the track before it. Well, there is the exception of I Hope You Die In A Car Crash. There’s a bouncy, upbeat tempo and blues guitar portions to it that makes it the standout track of Another Failure In The Making.

Overall: While Another Failure In The Making isn’t exactly that, it isn’t really something I can get behind either. The whole angsty, angry at everything mentality isn’t really my thing anymore. But if it is yours and you enjoy albums that contain the same song played about eleven times over, then Another Failure In The Making is custom made for you!

5/10

Another Failure Official
Another Failure On Facebook 

Genre: Black Metal 
Label: Shaytan Productions

Look out Darkestrah, here’s another band that plays authentic middle eastern inspired black metal! And from the sounds of things… they’ve got your number! (If I ever would of finished my Top 50 Favorite Albums Of All Time list, you would of found out that Darkestrah’s The Great Silk Road is my favorite metal album of all time… but I’m lazy.)

And oh boy, do those middle eastern influences really stand out front and center! I mean, we all know that black metal kicks ass, right? Well, imagine letting some of the most deranged and, let’s face it, fascinating history dictate were and how the music itself grows and changes… pretty exciting, am I right?

The guitars are a joyous mix of typical black metal shred and progressive riffing. They mix quite well with the perfectly rendered bass (both played by Mephisto) that bangs and booms with all the might and majesty of Anu and Enlil! But then we come to the keys (oriental keys, that is)… wow. You know how sometimes you’re listening to a black metal album and you think, “Man, this is missing something.”? I swear to Marduk that these keys are it! The haunting edge they add to every song is nothing short of GENIUS! Thanks Ostron!

And how can I forget the drums? Naw, I couldn’t even if I tried! Skinsman Darius plays his way through the whole of Estorat Taghoot, mixing in your standard blackened aggression with (again) progressive beats. Last but not least, we come to the vocals. Imagine the best black metal vocals you’ve ever heard from any band. Who comes to mind? Belphagor? Immortal? Dark Throne? Yeah, add this guy. They’re perfect. That’s all I can say. (Except this: Mardus isn’t even officially in the band! Why the fuck not?!? …but to be fair, I haven’t heard the new guy’s vocals yet.)

You probably think that I’m just ejaculating all over this album for shit and giggles. But I swear to you on the highest and lowest of authorities that this album is a gift for one, the other or possibly both of those authorities…

Overall: Yeah, those are some big statements for me to make, but what choice do I have? This album is easily one of, if not the best album I’ve ever heard!

10/10

Al-Namrood On MySpace 

Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Label: Comatose Music

With Bloodsoaked’s previous album, Sadistic Deeds… Grotesque Memories scoring a 9/10, the bar for The Death Of Hope was is set pretty damned high. Can The Death Of Hope live up to expectation? Or will it aptly destroy one of the few remaining glimmers of hope for the death metal (brutal or otherwise) genre?

The answer lies in the middle, leaning more towards the expectation. Slaughtering soloist Peter Hasselbrack can still supply the monstrous riffs and buckets of blood, guts and vagina necklaces, but there are a few areas where he seems to be lacking this time around.

For one, the vocals are actually kind of weak. An album ago, they were deep and guttural. Enough to make your hair stand on end, they were. In this album, they’re more of an easier-to-do, raspy whisper. It makes me wonder if he damaged his vocal chords between albums or somthing along those lines… aww, now I’m sad.  :(

Secondly, the richness and complexity that was Sadistic Deeds… Grotesque Memories has gone flat when the structures made the jump to this album. I mean, there are still some barbaric riffs as mentioned earlier, but everything in between comes off a little stale and sometimes repetitive.

It should be stated that even though I’m disappointed in some of these developments, they’re still loads better than what entire bands out there are putting out. Keep that in mind when you finally reach the score at the bottom.

It’s kind of weird to being saying this (hell, all the negative points in this review were especially painful to write) but I actually enjoyed what was done with the pacing of the drum programming (done by Shane McFee). Machine gunny, but just the right amount of it. No mechanized, overachieving Vinnie Paul or some shit. Also done well once again were the lyrics! It’s like you’re right there beside him as he grinds the guts of some unlucky fucker into a pink, chunky lather!

Interesting Factoid: Peter hates Call Of Duty ModernWarefare & Black Ops or at least some d-bags he played with that he lists off in the liner notes. They’re actually pretty funny too. You’ve got to respect a dude that’s 1) a gamer and 2) has enough of a sense of humor to put something like that in the liner notes of his brutal death metal album.

Overall: The Death Of Hope isn’t the best Bloodsoaked album out there, but it’s still a damn fine one. Yeah, I might of been a little disappointed with the vocal change and the decline in song structure quality, but the fire is still there. This guy still wants shit to die in the most twisted, macabre way possible and you can’t fault him on that. I still recommend this album to the fans of brutality.

8/10

Bloodsoaked On SoundClick 
Bloodsoaked On Facebook

Ah, Shaytan Productions. You’ve been so patient with me over these past couple of months. You see, I’ve been sitting on this review for about three months now and I’m FINALLY getting around to listening to it. I don’t know why, either. It’s destructive Italian black metal with some English and German lyrics with an Egyptian theme… *whew*

With that being said, there are a lot of other things that I could say about this offering. A LOT of things. But instead, I’ll sum it all up with this simple statement: HOLY FUCKING SHIT THERE’S A LOT OF AWESOME STUFF GOING ON IN THIS EP!!!  …Ok, you’ll probably need more than that to go on, won’t you?

First off, let’s talk about those vocals. Fucking killer! Quintessential black metal vocals that range from typical shrieks to tortured throaty screams! Every bit of which is used very effectively to tell various stories about mummification, purification and the end of the world! The guitar in this is more on the minimal side of things, but is once again, used very effectively. The riffs are tuned way down low, giving us that earth rumbling, “the end is nigh” sort of feeling. During the course of Awaiting The Golden Age, I had to keep checking the sky to make sure that it was really falling or turning blood fucking red! And now, the background meat of this EP: the synths and the like. Whenever there is programming in my black metal, I tend to get a little iffy about it. “Ewww.” I think. But solo honcho Hell-IO-Kabbalus managed to make what should of been a tinny, unattractive offering into a powerhouse of auditory awesome with orchestral stings, xylophones and various strings populating this twenty one minute EP. Somehow, H-I-K made Mantra For The End Of Times feel much longer in the process as well. Not that it really matters though. You’ll probably do like I did and just keep it on repeat for a day or two, looking for and find new things to love about it many times over.

Simply epic. Every note.

Overall: This is one of those releases that you just cannot in good conscience, let people not know about and can’t seem to recommend enough. I implore you good readers (at least, those of you who even kinda like black metal), track down this EP and snatch it up! You won’t regret it!

10/10

Kalki Avatara On MySpace