Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash
Label: Pulverised Records
Format: Digital Promo (Earsplit PR)

Impiety are no strangers to the metal masses. Formed 21 years ago, they’ve been releasing album after EP after album of their own blend of black, death and thrash. Some releases have been better than others, but with their newest album, Ravage & Conquer, Impiety seem to be taking a faster route to awesome.
The drums are faster and more technical, solid as bedrock, and wonderfully complimentary to the thrashtastic (and catchy) riffage emanating from Shyaithan’s and Nizam Aziz’s amps. If only they weren’t triggered to the nines, but rather all natural, I think they would sound better.
The lead solos from Nizam bend the mind just as much as the strings, their speed and clarity astounding.
Shyaithan also takes credit for the bass, and though he’ll never be called thrash’s best bassist, he is a great player that locks in pretty much perfectly with the drums and the rhythm guitar.
The death metal elements that Impiety are known for are a little more subdued with Ravage & Conquer, the album taking a more thrash approach, which is even overshadowing much of the blackened elements (other than the vocals, of course). Some fans might not be thrilled by this, but I know I’m enjoying this, and I prefer black and death over thrash!
My favorite tracks are “Revelation Decimation”, “Weaponized”, and “Legacy of Savagery”.
8 out of 10.

Ravage & Conquer Track Listing:
1. Revelation Decimation
2. Ravage & Conquer
3. Weaponized
4. The Scourge Majesty
5. War Crowned
6. Legacy Of Savagery
7. Salve The Goat
8. Sacrifice (Bathory cover)

Impiety Personnel:
Shyaithan – Bass, Vomit
Nizam Aziz – Lead Guitars
Dizazter – Drums

Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Format: Digital Promo (Napalm Records)

After several issues of a couple magazines (most notably Terrorizer) were talking about this female-fronted ‘true’ metal band (and after seeing their singer in next to nothing, honestly) I needed to hear them. And so it came to pass that I got to get my hands on a digital promo of Spell Eater.
I’ve given the album a couple listens now, and I’m quite impressed. Female-fronted bands of late have been leaving me with a listless feeling, like they are just trying too hard, and falling short of their goals; and when I found out that Napalm was taking care of Huntress I was honestly a little bit worried that they may be getting overshadowed by the label’s other, more well-known female-fronted bands. But no, this troupe is definitely not going to get lost in the label, nor do I feel listless after listening. Quite the opposite, in fact!
Think King Diamond if King Diamond was a hot blonde with an affinity for Siouxie Sioux, and you’re getting into the right territory. Musically the band brings to mind Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and even some newer Opeth. And well, King Diamond. Galloping guitar and bass, soaring vocals, growls, and spine tingling/finger wrecking solos are brought together to create Spell Eater.
Favorite songs are the lead-off single “Eight of Swords”, which is catchy as hell, “Aradia”, which reminds me a bit of mid-90’s Fear Factory, and “Senicide”, the second track from the album.
In total, I’m definitely loving this album and I’ll be buying it when it comes out.
8.5 out of 10.

Spell Eater Tracklisting:
1. Spell Eater
2. Senecide
3. Sleep and Death
4. Snow Witch
5. Eight of Swords
6. Aradia
7. Night Rape
8. Children
9. Terror
10. The Tower
11. The Dark

Spell Eater Personnel:
Eric Harris: Bass
Carl Wierzbicky: Drums
Blake Meahl: Lead Guitars
Ian Alden: Rhythm Guitars
Jill Janus: Vocals

Legendary Singaporean blackened warbeasts Impiety are set to unleash eighth studio album through Pulverised Records this May. Offering up eight grisly tracks, including a cover of Bathory’s “Sacrifice,” the aptly titled Ravage & Conquer was recorded, mixed and mastered over a course of two weeks at Studio 47 in Singapore and features cover art by renowned illustrator, Lord Sickness (Sabbat, Witchaven, Zygoatsis, etc).

Savagely innovative, technical, and uncompromising, Ravage & Conquer lives up to its name. Led by frontman Shyaithan, Impiety’s covenant of chaos remains impenetrable, delivering some of the harshest and most vicious brand of blackened death metal the world has witnessed.

Ravage & Conquer Track Listing:
1. Revelation Decimation
2. Ravage & Conquer
3. Weaponized
4. The Scourge Majesty
5. War Crowned
6. Legacy Of Savagery
7. Salve The Goat
8. Sacrifice (Bathory cover)

Impiety Personnel:
Shyaithan – Bass, Vomit
Nizam Aziz – Lead Guitars
Dizazter – Drums

Ravage & Conquer will be released in North America via Pulverised Records on May 8, 2012.

Impiety on Facebook.

Genre: Heavy, Black, Doom Metal 
Label: Independent

You would not believe the size of the smile on my face when this little gem materialized in my mailbox. I metaphorically splooged all over Inverticrux’s (formally known as Vintage Flesh) last album, Hour Of The Night Gaunts, so my expectations are impossibly high for their 2012 release, Virgin Reaper. With an album title like that, they’re well on their way to meeting those standards. What mysteries were to behold within? Were there any other changes along side the band name? My mind is racing with the wondrous possibilities…

Immediately, I’m ecstatic to find that the schizophrenic genre melding remains in Inverticrux’s own patented style.  Mixing elements of classic heavy metal, some toned down doom metal and slivers of black metal to make something that’s original and easily distinguishable as belonging to these New Hampshire psychopaths!

Holy… was that a harmonica? Fuck yes! I’ve always said that more metal bands should utilize the power found inside this little magical wind instrument! Granted it’s only found in the song A Cautionary Tale, but I’d rather it be in only one track than in none at all. Personal excitement over discovering the use of an under appreciated instrument aside, the overall instrumentation in Virgin Reaper has a crusty, filthiness going for it that rarely gets the praise it deserves when it’s discovered outside of punk or related versions of black metal. I for one am stoked to find it here!

More praise is to be sent vocalist RayPissed’s way! He changed up his vocal tactic this time around by ditching the constant falsetto (which so many others apparently had a problem with) and replacing it with more variety. Gruff, but not tough guy vocals lead the way while being backed up with the occasional higher end tune and and even better still version of his haunting bellowing! The guy is a vocal genius!

The production is another tally in the positive side of things. Everything sounds much crisper than it did in Hour Of The Night Gaunts while still completely down and dirty. And let’s talk about that cover art! The titular character is clutching his recently used scythe in one hand and a bloody cherry in the other while standing on a pile of skulls, surrounded by blood drenched, big titted chicks! Fucking METAL!!!

Overall: Tinkle me pink to find out that Virgin Reaper holds it’s own against it’s predecessor with it’s stylistic variations and crusty similarities! Inverticrux is a band that knocks down genre expectations and will continue to do what they wish, when they wish on into the future and Funeral Rain will be right there behind them, cheering them on all the way!

10/10

Inverticrux On Facebook 

Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Format: Digital Promo (Earsplit PR)

I’ve listened to this album a couple times now in the past two or so weeks, and I’ve come to realize something vital about it: it’s awesome. It’s not going to break ground in the genre; it might not ever achieve classic status, and even past albums from Cannibal Corpse might overshadow it for some fans (Kill comes to mind first). But right now, at the beginning of 2012, Torture is exactly what I want to listen to, and the more I do hear it the more I love it.
The band claimed, and has backed up, that they were going to keep the sounds of the past few albums while going back to the more frenetic approach of the first two albums. Every single note is crystal clear, every chord struck is nuanced, but there is a little bit more of a chaotic feel to the structuring of the riffs and many of the solos are just off the registers for intensity. George’s trademark clarity of enunciation is perfect for this album, because he is able to achieve disgusting speed with his vocals while still being intelligible, which matches the insane speeds of some sections in these songs and their crisp production.
The album will appeal to most Cannibal Corpse fans, and it will be a good way for people who aren’t into death metal to get into the genre. It follows the path of CC’s evolution perfectly; it looks at the older albums for inspiration while keeping the more accessible sound of The Wretched Spawn, Kill, and Evisceration Plague. There are some seriously solid tracks on this album, including the lead-off single “Demented Aggression” (listen to it below) and its follower, “Scourge of Iron”, the mid-paced “Followed Home Then Killed” and the manic “Crucifier Avenged”.
8 out of 10.

Torture Tracklisting:
1. Demented Aggression
2. Sarcophagic Frenzy
3. Scourge of Iron
4. Encased in Concrete
5. As Deep as the Knife Will Go
6. Intestinal Crank
7. Followed Home Then Killed
8. The Strangulation Chair
9. Caged… Contorted
10. Crucifier Avenged
11. Rabid
12. Torn Through

Torture Personnel:
Alex Webster: Bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz: Drums
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher: Vocals
Rob Barrett: Guitar
Pat O’Brian: Guitar