Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Roadrunner Records
Format: Double Gatefold 2LP (Personal Collection)

Mikael has done it again. A stunning display of technical prowess (which he seems to always humbly undermine in interviews) and a deft hand at good old fashioned songcraft takes an epic win once again for Opeth. Also showing Opeth and their fans love, Roadrunner has put out a great collection for us all. It’s simple, but still wonderfully done.
A double gatefold with beautiful art from Travis Smith containing two black records is what I got. The records themselves are held in old school styled sleeves, plain white paper with clear plastic over the holes to see the record’s label. A lyric sheet is included, with all the album credits on one side and all the lyrics on the other.
The inside of the gatefold is photos of the band in the studio during the recording of Heritage, while the back is a simplistic tracklist. Visually, the album really stands on the front cover, as you can see above.
Musically, it’s quite different from what we’ve grown accustomed to. Gone are Mikael’s death growls, which most people are going to hear this change first. Also gone is the metallic sounds, relying on hard rock and prog rock to take the listener through a sometimes psychedelic journey. There are still Opethian things, parts that remind me of the Ghost Reveries album and even touches of Watershed and Still Life are present, too.
Hammond B3, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, grand piano, and acoustic guitars, all in use by Opeth in the past, are even bigger in the sound now, sometimes taking the song delivery away from the electric guitars and becoming lead instruments rather than just pretty backing colors. Personally, this is a good thing. Growth has always shown between albums for Opeth, and between Watershed and Heritage there has been the largest growth for the band, and it’s because of their desire to just write a prog rock album rather than flirting with the idea.
Album highlights for me are numerous, but the songs “The Devil’s Orchard”, “Slither” (written as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio and a killer live song) and “Famine” really stand out as favorites. The only problem, and the main problem for all Opeth albums really, is that there just are not enough songs to hear.
10 out of 10.

Heritage 2LP Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Heritage
2. The Devil’s Orchard
3. I Feel The Dark
Side B
4. Slither
5. Nepenthe
6. Häxprocess
Side C
7. Famine
8. The Lines In My Hand
Side D
9. Folklore
10. Marrow Of The Earth

Heritage Personnel:
Fredrik Åkesson – Electric rhythm and lead guitars
Martin Mendez – Electric and upright bass guitars
Martin Axenrot – Drums and percussion
Alex Acuña – Percussion on “Famine”
Per Wiberg – Hammond B3, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and Grand Piano
Björn J:son Lindh – Flute on “Famine”
Mikael Åkerfeldt – Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Mellotron, Grand Piano, FX
Joakim Svalberg – Grand Piano on “Heritage”

Artwork, Track Listing And First Single Unveiled

America’s reigning kings of brutality, Cannibal Corpse, will unleash their twelfth studio offering this March via Metal Blade Records. Aptly titled Torture, the follow-up to 2009′s Evisceration Plague offers up 12 tracks of maniacally precise, soul-searing death metal. Torture was again produced by Hate Eternal‘s Erik Rutan at his own Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida as well as Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and features the maniacal cover art by longtime Cannibal Corpse artist, Vincent Locke.

While Torture marks the latest progression in the band’s sound, it also witnesses a return to what drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz accurately terms “the frenzied attack of Butchered At Birth (1991) or Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992),” infusing the band’s advanced musicianship with the raw savagery that haunted their earlier releases, and in the process conceiving the definitive Cannibal Corpse record. Adds bassist Alex Webster on the outcome of the record: “We’re extremely happy with how Torture turned out. Erik Rutan did an amazing job with the production, and the songwriting and performances may be our strongest yet. We can’t wait until our fans get to hear the whole thing!”

Witness the gutting sounds of “Demented Aggression,” the band’s first single, as well as studio footage, at the official Cannibal Corpse landing page, at THIS LOCATION.

Torture Tracklisting:
01. Demented Aggression
02. Sarcophagic Frenzy
03. Scourge of Iron
04. Encased in Concrete
05. As Deep As the Knife Will Go
06. Intestinal Crank
07. Followed Home Then Killed
08. The Strangulation Chair
09. Caged…Contorted
10. Crucifier Avenged
11. Rabid
12. Torn Through

As a precursor to the release, Cannibal Corpse will perform a special one-off show at the Culture Room in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 22nd then head to the seas to take part in this year’s edition of the 70,000 Tons Of Metal Cruise. The band will get a short break before a near month-long march through Europe on the Full Of Hate 2012 tour with labelmates Behemoth.

Torture will be released in North America on March 13, 2012.

Cannibal Corpse:
Alex Webster – Bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz – Drums
Rob Barrett – Guitar
Patrick O’Brien – Guitar
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – Vocals

A long overdue split release, Sri Lanka’s psychotic auditory terrorists and the legionaries of the 666th battalion of the Raavan cult have congregated to create, manifest and aid world spiritual warfare. Released on limited edition vinyl by Dunkelheit Produktionen in December 2011, the seven deranged and trance inducing hymns of tantric mantras – collectively known as Astral Mantras of Dyslexia – are now being released by Dunkelheit on Digipak CD on February 25th with different artwork and a huge booklet!

Included are not only the infamous Stoned Guru Ramblings by Plecto Aliquem Capite and “Buddhang Saranang” by Funeral In Heaven recorded as a tribute to an ancient Sri Lankan cult, the album also contains the byproduct bastard progeny “Crestfallen: Immolating Shakthi” purged into existence by fusing ancestral possessions inherited by both projects. Astral Mantras of Dyslexia is 50 minutes of ominous Sri Lankan ritualistic auditory therapy for mentally deranged ancient worshipers of astral energy. Limited edition hooded sweatshirts featuring the album’s artwork are currently available at Dunkelheit Produktionen’s webstore.

Genres: Death Metal, Thrash
Label: Independent

This CD arrived in my mailbox rather unexpected, but I was somewhat excited to check it out. Mexican death metal is usually pretty good, and when mixed with thrash, it’s even better. Hellsing prove this theory, and have become my second favorite band from Mexico.
The overall sound is a very clean thrash, in the vein of newer Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, or Bullet For My Valentine, but don’t let that discourage you. I know some metalheads would cringe at those comparisons, but when faced with the excellent growls of Jose Luis your idea should change. These guys are the real deal, holding up a ‘true’ metal (whatever that means) flag for the world to unite under.
Opening track “The Rival” opens up with a simple, thrashy intro but quickly turns into a very fistpumping death metal track that strongly reminds me of Canadian thrashers Titans Eve and Trivium, with a bit of 3 Inches of Blood and Cannibal Corpse. Some really awesome solos are in this song, so get your air guitar ready.
The second track, the title track to the EP, is a short song, not even a full minute long. It’s a nice quiet instrumental that leads you into “The Dark Side of the Moon”, a NWOBHM/thrash riff infested slow piece. Iron Maiden meets Entombed? Something like that. Again, solos. These guys know how to do them right; little mini songs that help the main song out. Great stuff.
Bonus track “Razor” is a faster, more evil-sounding vocal track with a fucking killer solo section at 1:28 that doesn’t let up until 2:48, where it goes into the main riff. This thing gallops along like Maiden but just slays with it’s shredding thrashtastic guitar work. Definitely my favorite song on the EP.
The second bonus track, and last song, “The Final Hour” starts off HUGE, reminding me of thrash infected gothic metal. Don’t let that trick you though, as Jose comes in and throws down a vocal that turns this song into a totally melodic Swedeath homage to bands like Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and Soilwork. Second favorite track on the EP for sure.
If you’re into deaththrash, check out Hellsing MX. These guys are really good at what they are doing, and deserve at least a look at.
7.5 out of 10.

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