Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Black Metal

Label: Forever Plagued Records

AHHHHHHH!!!! Shit! Carnival Of Souls used to scare the fuck out of me as a kid and this album cover almost made me piss myself a little… I think Lord Foul would of wanted it that way. Anyway, this split album is actually two of Lord Foul’s old demos (Killing, Raping, Burning from 1993 and The Devil’s Advocate from 1994) sandwiched together and remastered for your listening pleasure.

Interesting Factimaziod: Lord Foul (sole member: Roach) started off as a supposed joke band to parody black metal under the name Rectal Christ. But for some reason, Roach decided against that, changed the name to Lord Foul and started playing serious black metal. Many were thankful.

Killing, Raping, Burning – I can immediately hear where the joke band potential stems from. This guy sounds like Err, the short pink Mooninite trying to cover Cold Winds And Funeral Dust! Other than that, it’s all short and fucking sweet, lo-fi black metal (the longest song being two minutes and forty six seconds)!

The Devil’s Advocate – More of the same, really. There are some improvements vocally and production wise. In this section of the split, you can also tell that Roach used to be in a grindcore band as the riffs are more vicious and rapid that in KRB. I guess the ADD addled run times of the tracks are a dead giveaway as well…

A gripe that I MUST throw out there is that if you’re going to have a demo with six or so songs on them and they only mostly clock in at barely over a minute, why would you start off 90% of them with a thirty second sound clip?

Overall: If you fancy yourself a collect of all things underground in the realm of black metal, then this intensely evile demo combination of putrid blackened metal is just for you.

8/10

Lord Foul On MySpace

Genre: Black Metal

Label: Forever Plagued Records

After listening to the ironically titled Tenebrous debut album, Opvs Magnvm, I’m sure that the same question that plagues me as I write this review will haunt you as well: How can two members of Kult Ov Azazel create something so… mediocre?

Having read positive things about Tenebrous’s EPs In The Absence Of Light and Arias Toward The Black Sun, I was a little more than geared up to listen to this release. I also found out that VJS, the bassist and drummer, was also in Incursus! Which could, in fact of lead to my more than disappointed reaction to Opvs Magnvm.

Opvs Magnvm does get a few things right. The atmosphere is wickedly dense with gothic tones that slash and claw their way from the background into the foreground. It’s not an easy task to make something that seems incidental purposefully unavoidable. It’s putting a positive spin on “making mountains out of molehills”.

Unfortunately, there’s not much else here to praise. I’m positive that if you’ve only heard one black metal album before this one, you’ve heard most of this album before. Other than the aforementioned atmosphere comment, there’s not much to comment on in this album. Although, there is one point in the song, Magisterium that sounds like the track is skipping. Either that was a technical hiccup or a stiflingly annoying creative choice. I’m going to assume that it was the producer’s fault.

Overall: Opvs Magnvm seems like it should just blast off and become one of those albums that only the slowest of the ‘tarded black metal snobs drools over. Instead, it ends up being something that you can pawn off on one of those guys you know that likes Eyes Of Noctum.

6.5/10

Tenebrous Official

Genre: Black Metal

Label: Forever Plagued Records

Man! How long has it been since I’ve reviewed black metal? Well… June 1st by my calculations. Not too terribly long ago really, but when you get the itch for something evil it just HAS TO BE scratched. Luckily, the main man over at Forever Plagued Records decided to assist me with this one. And oh boy let me tell ya, I don”t even think I have any skin left! Incursus dug their sharpened ebon talons into the flesh on my face and tore it up ’till nothing remained but a pulpy mess!

Ever hear of Deathspell Omega? Yeah, so have these guys. Raspy, half-whisper vocals coupled with a scathing riffs machine and standard drum fare? Yeah, it’s all there. Even the production seems to be an emulation (please note that I said “emulation”, not “rip-off”) of the later part of the 90′s for black metal in general.  So, what am I still singing it’s praises if it just comes off as semi-Burzum / a little bit-o Bathory worship? Because there’s nothing wrong with saluting the old guard if it’s done right. And in the case of Eternal Funeral Worship, it on what little is left of my nose.

Even so, there are songs like Venka that break the strictly “oh, we’re evil and can play the guitar”, ho-hum-drum blitzkreig of traditional black metal vibe in trade for a bit of a dark ambient break. Five minutes worth, at least. The following track, He Of Knighted Death, because of the surreal pause in the malevolent maelstrom, comes off as an even more savage song. Not that it wasn’t to begin with! Seriously, this track has some wicked fucking teeth than crave your soul! He Of Knighted Death alone is worth the asking price of this album!

Overall: Eternal Funeral Trance is a return to a time when cold, unrelenting black metal was the “norm”. Not this current shit that may as well come off a goddamed assembly line! Extra Cool Thing: About three tracks in, you’ll forget that it’s American… and from 2009!

9.5/10

No External Links Found… fuckin’ kvlt, ya’ll!!!

Genre: Death Metal

Label: Dynamic Arts Records

Something that kind of bugged me about Torture Killer (aside of the constant Six Feet Under worship) and something that usually got under my skin about any band with constant line-up changes: three different albums, three different vocalists. Really? Seems kind of shady in my opinion. I mean, the vocalist is generally the focal point of the band for most people (not me though. You can have a piss poor front person and still wind up with a 9.5/10) and not usually something people like having it tampered with. Can Sewers live up to the moderate standards that For Maggots To Devour and Swarm! set? The answer is an emphatic, yes!

Yes, but not in the exact same way. You see, both For Maggots To Devour and Swarm! had a definite brutality about them that had aficionados drooling for and an old school death metal mentality that most of the hardcore fanatics cannot do without. Sewers ditches both of these components in favor of matured structures full of neck snapping grooves and more of a medium pace.

Vocally, Juri Sallinen outdoes Chris Barnes (not that that’s too hard nowadays) with vicious extreme growls and the occasional shriek that he’s honed in his half dozen or so Finnish death metal acts. As far as drumming goes, I’ve heard better. But they’re entertaining, (not to mention flourish filled) none the less in the realm of mid-paced death metal and it’s mostly lackluster beat machines.

Complaints: Why make an album so short? It feels like it’s only thirty or so minutes long even though it’s… oh. Twenty nine minutes long… weird. Another, more valid complaint is while the riffing is more than entertaining to start, it begins to blend into itself, rendering them indistinguishable from what you hear at the beginning.

Overall: These guys have come a long way since being a SFU cover band! Heavy groove laden riffs and mid paced violence await you once Sewers starts up! If that’s your bag, then scour the sewers looking for this miasmic metal act!

8.5/10

Torture Killer On MySpace

Torture Killer Official

Genre: Death Metal, Punk
Label: Kitchen Vomit Records

Goreific Horror Grind masters and now two time E-MetalReviews/E-MetalSpace contenders for band with the hottest front woman who probably has a collection of he-groupies’ body parts in various places in her home, Eat The Living are back after finding a home with Kitchen Vomit Records! “Braaiiins”! is their second outing that’s layered thick with malevolent, melodic punk/grind infused with enough blood, grizzly ends and neonatal entrails (Ya’ll got a new song title right there…) to satisfy even the most macabre of grind fans. “Braaiiins” keeps the same over the top feeling that “Bloodbath” had, but features a bit more of a sharp/polished sound Eat The Living also take a step forward in the songwriting area as well. More complex sounding melodies are heard in songs like Wishmaster and Fish Hooks. “Braaiiins” also comes stocked with a re-release of my favorite song off of “Bloodbath” entitled, Bed Bugs. (Oh yeah!)

Overall: “Braaiiins” will be a surefire hit at your next Halloween party. You can bet your ass I’ll be using it to scare the fuck out of trick-or-treaters coming up our driveway! (That’s MY candy, you little fucks!)

9/10

Eat The Living On MySpace

NOTE: This is a REPOST from E-MetalSpace