Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Atmospheric, Black Metal, Rock, Pop
Label: Eisenwald

This is going to sound horrible right off the bat but please, just give it a few seconds to sink in; What if someone took the might and savagery out of Thrall, replaced it with something resembling a metallic version of Coldplay and managed to keep the wicked black metal edge to most of it? If any of you are left after that (including you, Tim), the answer is easily one of the most unique musical experiences I’ve had since starting the reviewing game all of those years ago!

There is a metric TON of genre melding going on within these six tracks. Everything from relatively simple, yet catchy hard rock riffs to clean vocals and synthy pop keys to banshee wailing and back again can be heard in right here in this EP. It might be a tad overwhelming or just considered aimless to some folks, but I found it to be morbidly captivating. I kept finding myself thinking the same thing over and over again, “This shouldn’t be.” Meaning, these musical elements should never of been mixed! Germ’s sole member… (get ready for it) Germ, is toying with the very essence of what makes popular music popular and metal music that which must live underground! He’s taking those irrefutable elements and making them his own personal soundboard, not to mention, taking a gigantic risk with the possibility of alienating his audiences… and I absolutely LOVE that.

If there was one thing that I had to gripe about, it’s the oldie but goodie “length” complaint. This EP was too damned short! How dare you tease me with such a brilliant yet stingy offering! Damn you Germ!

Overall: Taking a risk on Loss is nowhere near the risk that was taken to bring it to you! Loss is a one of a kind outing that will leave you wondering what the future holds for Germ, metal and music as a whole.

9.5/10

Germ On Facebookable
Germ On Soundcloud 

-  Typhon

Genre: Black Metal
Label: Schattenkult Produktionen

And the Black Metal Gods (I’m sure there are at least two of them) have smiled upon my sorry ass once again!  I literally jumped for joy when I received this album in the mail and rushed straight home to throw it in my stereo. Long time readers may remember the dripping hard-ons that General Blaspheme and I have for this band. If you don’t and/or my vulgar appreciation for Nebrus is completely new to you, then all you really need to do is listen to just one song and you’ll understand where I’m coming from (and you’ll probably need a new change of underwear as well).

From The Black Ashes starts off strong with “Apocalypse”, a blistering ride through the beginning of the end. They tease you a bit with a break in the bleak with a momentary slow down in tempo that almost feels like everything is going to be okay. Like the world isn’t going to end in this horrible fashion that they’re describing… and suddenly, the sting of reaper’s scythe finds it’s mark on your soul! An awesome way to START your album, if you ask me.

From there, Nebrus just takes your expectations and runs off with them by taking all the vileness of black metal and merging it the finer points of doom metal. It’s like if you took Under The Sign Of The Black Mark and Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, broke them both in half and glued the two halves together to make the greatest mixture of black metal and doom metal that any metal mind ever dreamed of… assuming the breaking/gluing process was successful.

I’m happy to report that Noctuaria’s voice is just as ravaged and raw as ever, which keeps her high on my Favorite Black Metal Vocalist list right between Stefan Fiori and Lord Serpent. This time however, Mortifero duties pertained only to the drums, which are every bit as punishing as they were in Twilight Of Humanity. It’s the same with the guitars. Throughout From The Black Ashes, they are almost always sped up to your standard black metal speed riffs, but occasionally they break off into dreary doom hooks that are always laid in on just the right moments.

But the crowning jewel of From The Black Ashes has to be it’s closing track, “Banquet Of Oblivion”. Hearing Noctuaria scream, “I DON’T EXIST!” would start to weaken even the most galvanized of iron wills. An absolute perfect ending to easily one of the top three albums I’ve heard in 2012. No lie.

Overall: Nebrus, oh my sweet Nebrus… once again, your macabre form of blackened doom has come to lay waste to my other musical tastes. One listen to From The Black Ashes and you’ll get snagged on one of it’s many hooks! Even if black/doom isn’t your forte, you’ll find something about Nebrus’s new offering to enjoy. And if you can, track down one of the 66 copies of Nebrus’s EP, Twilight Of Humanity.

10/10

Nebrus Official
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-  Typhon

Genre: Folk Metal
Label: Spinefarm Records

It may come as a shock to many readers (all three of you) but, I have never actually gotten into Ensiferum. And if buzz is any indication, I should of gotten into them YEARS ago. But alas, my metal knowledge is not as vast as it should be, according to the Blabbermouth.net message boards… dicks. At any rate, Ensiferum are a long standing Finnish folk metal band with, I’ve come to find out, very loyal fans. Well kiddos, I already pissed you off on those forums so I don’t see a problem repeating the process here and now.

Ensiferum’s folksy nature was appealing to me almost instantly. The opening track, “Symbols” is a whimsical intro that sets up a mood of magic, might and epic tales to come… and when “In My Sword I Trust” gets going, that mood is inescapable! Driving bass kicks and operatic/gang backing vocals help create a soundscape that’s ready to accept your offering of blood and steel! But to be honest, it kind of took me by surprise when the harsh vocals started up and this guy pretty much sounded like Randy Blythe… no thanks. I try to keep bands like Lamb Of God as far away from my thoughts when I listen to folk metal, so thanks for messing that up for me!

Unfortunately, the epic mood that “In My Sword I Trust” starts, the next track, “Unsung Heroes” brings to a grinding halt. Sans a catchy hook, there really isn’t anything about this song that I can praise. The same goes with most of the remainder of the album (except for any time the guitars go acoustic). ”Celestial Bond”, however is a pleasant surprise among the yawn educing, b-side dumping ground that is the rest of Unsung Heroes; a Celtic inspired serenade with stunning female vocals. More of this would be appreciated.

Overall: I’m left pretty confused as to the rabid fan defensiveness. I guess I should probably take a closer look at Ensiferum’s previous efforts before judging them completely though…  And as much as I ragged on this album, I should probably say that Unsung Heroes isn’t a bad album. Just bland. Hopelessly, terribly bland.

6/10

Ensiferum Official
Ensiferum On Facebook 

-  Typhon

Genre: Crust Punk, D-Beat
Label: Southern Lord 

Ah, d-beat. You and I haven’t been the best of friends for the past little while, have we? I’ve neglected you quite a bit in favor of more… mainstream tastes and for that, I am sorry. To make it up to you, I have spent the last two days straight listening to Swedish d-beat mavens, Wolfbrigade and their latest offering to the crusty genre, Damned.

Since I wasn’t a huge fan or Prey To The World, I wasn’t expecting too much from Damned. And to be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to think about this album at first. I mean, it’s super aggressive and has a true, grimy crust punk feel to it from beginning to end, but  it’s fairly simplistic instrumentally (no real surprise there, but I meant “more than usual”) and the vocalist’s style of “let’s see how long I can strain my voice like this” vocals get irritating pretty quick.

There are a few classic d-beat riffs going on in Damned (the latter half of the album especially) and as stripped down as some of the songs can get, it doesn’t really detract from the dark mood that Wolfbrigade has set up. Another check in the Pro box would be the drumming. While it’s not particularly mind-blowing, it is inventive. If I could just isolate the drum track and listen to it as is, I probably would every once in a while. Lots of fun to be had in Damned if you’re a fan of manic drumming in a gloomier setting. I know that I mentioned earlier that the vocals got on my nerves. Yes, they did… but they aren’t really all that bad. Sure, I’m concerned that the vocalist isn’t going to be able to speak for a week after replicating them live, but he seems to be cool with it so who am I to judge, really?

The major flaw of this album is it’s inability to stick with me after I turn off my player. I listened to Damned for TWO DAYS STRAIGHT and I couldn’t recite a single lyric or hum a single melody as of right now. All that kept happening was I would hum something off of Death Songs (When Tigers Fight)… I’m not sure if that a dis to Wolfbrigade (Sorry!) or a testament to how awesome When Tigers Fight are (still sorry WB).

Overall: From what I can remember at any given time about this album, it’s definitely a solid effort and something that should belong in any d-beat enthusiast’s collection. But I probably won’t be returning to Damned for a while. I’ll just go ahead and say that part of that is because of the repeated listens. Seriously though, don’t let my whining keep you from checking this album out.

7/10

-  Typhon

Wolfbrigade On Facebook

Genre: Hardcore, Punk, Grind
Label: Independent 

After submitting my review for Seizure Crypt a couple of days ago, it was suggested that I gave another hardcore band from New York a shot. After a couple of days of letting Expendable Humans sink in, it is crystal clear that I owe my brother-in-metal, Dave, a big ol’ THANK YOU!!! I’m not ashamed to say that Vise Massacre had me won over in a matter of minutes with their hyper aggressive hardcore style and filthy, almost grind percussion tactics!

The overall sound that Vise Massacre spits out is a grimy hardcore masterpiece full of fresh ideas and time tested structures. There are tracks here that are reminiscent of If He Dies… He Dies, Oroku and even a little bit of a sped up Fog Wizard. So it’s safe to say that I had a massive erection forming over the first two tracks of this album.

I mentioned aggression just a few sentences ago and I don’t think that that description alone does the mood that this album conveys any justice whatsoever. Imagine walking through a crowded shopping mall, the day after Thanksgiving. You’re overheated, tired from getting up super early and fed up with all of the idiotic mouth breathers that are usurping your oxygen. An overweight house frau steps on your toe and doesn’t so much as break her waddling stride to apologize for crushing your big toe under her bovine hoof that’s crammed inside a two sizes too small croc.

Getting pissed yet?

Well, now imagine that in your hands, you’re holding two .357 Desert Eagles that never need reloading and all of the doors leading out of the mall have been locked from the outside…

Expendable Humans is the soundtrack pumping out of the P.A. system overhead as you mow down the annoying and tolerable alike.

Aggressive! Psychotic! Hateful! Fucking Perfect! Vise Massacre unlock the homicidal maniac in you through their blend of loud pounding drumwork, hardcore bellowing and grinding riffs. Expendable Humans is a hardcore adventure unlike any other that I have gone on before and couldn’t wait to take it again as soon as the album was finished. And I did. Over and over again. Once while I was strolling though the mall even…

Overall: When all is said and done, a recommendation  to listen to this album couldn’t be glowing enough from me. This is easily an album that I could listen to for days on end, tell a friend about it and listen to it with him/her for more days on end! Vise Massacre may prove that humans are expendable, but they themselves are invaluable to the metal/hardcore community!

10/10

-  Typhon

Vise Massacre On ReverbNation
Vise Massacre On Facebook