Füneral Rain Press Cörps

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.

Hellsing MX on Facebook.

When: Friday September 10, 2010
Where: New City Suburbs, Edmonton, Alberta

The day that it was announced that Front Line Assembly were coming to Edmonton I started to salivate. Their first show in North America in like three years or something like that? Shit yeah I’ll be there. Wait, what? They hand-picked local industrial heroes iVardensphere to open for them? SWEET! And with the nice price of $22 per ticket, it was going to be a golden night. Too bad we had to wait for more than a month with our tickets in hand before the show.

Doors were at nine, with DJ Kaine Delay kicking the night off with a sweet set of punk and industrial, warming up the crowd for the asskicking that was to come.

At ten or so (I forgot my camera, which is also my clock) iVardensphere took the stage with some extra help from Booming Tree, a local pair of Taiko drummers, and a conga and djembe drummer as well. Instead of the usual hard industrial feast that we’ve all come to know and love from Scott and Chris, tonight was going to be extra special. A night of tribal, tribal, and a little more tribal was on tap, featuring a setlist that according to Scott was very much indicative of the new album. The classic Scatterface song “Bonedance” was still played, but with having more live percussion added to it, it was even more intense. A ten or fifteen minute jam was also included, which I think is becoming a permanent fixture in the iVardensphere show, at least here on home soil.
Oh, and just cuz I can tell you, I got a shirt.

After iVardensphere left the stage, it was quickly set up for the headliner of the night, Front Line Assembly, who came and quickly went for the throat. At the end of it, I wished there was more, and yet it was everything I expected and beyond. The band, for those that don’t somehow know, are legends in the industrial field, and were the birthing ground of several careers, including Rhys Fulber (Fear Factory producer/keyboards) and Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad). Right now they have members of Vancouver’s cyberpunks Left Spine Down (whom Kaine Delay fronts) rocking out on keys and guitar. And on top of all this, Justin Hagberg from 3 Inches of Blood joined the on-stage insanity to play three (ish) songs from the new FLA album, which he is also featured on!
It was like watching “How To Properly Play Industrial With Metal Overtones And Become Huge Fucking Legends Doing It 101″!
And again, just cuz I can tell you, I got a hoodie and a drum head that’s autographed by FLA, including J Hag.

In all: I went to bed at 2:30 am and was supposed to work at 6. I slept in and was 45 minutes late for work. It was so beyond worth it.

Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: The Grind-House Records

Looking at the cover of the album, one thinks something like 3 Inches of Blood crossed with some touches of black metal or something. Maybe some death metal.
But then, after listening to this monster of  a band, it seems they are just that and more. Definitely reminding me of Advance and Vanquish 3IoB, but without the high pitched vocals, there seems to be some other influences, each obviously an Evil Power (pun intended) controlling what these Chicago natives write.
Catchier riffs, catchier choruses, catchier verses, catchier everything, I’m a fan of Lair of the Minotaur now, officially.
Favorite tracks are “We Are Hades”, “Let’s Kill These Motherfuckers”, and the title track.
A bonus for you Scott Hull fans/stalkers – this album was mastered by him.
8 out of 10.

Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Century Media

With a monumental label switcheroo from Roadrunner to Century Media, I thought things were looking up for the power thrashers from up north. But then came Here Waits Thy Doom to prove me wrong… Cam Pipes is still here to rock your socks off with his power vocals… that for the first time, actually became grating to me. With the departure of metalcore screamer Jamie Hooper, 3 Inches Of Blood seems to be lacking a bit in the vocal department this time around. Sure, guitarist Justin Hagberg does what he can to fill in the harsh vocal void, but he falters more than he delivers. As for the overall sound, Here Waits Thy Doom comes up short. And not just because of their -1 vocalist either. The production values have suffered as well. On the plus side, Shane Clark still shreds shit silly, unfortunately, he’s the only one who brings out the overall awesome feel of 3IoB masterpiece, Advance And Vanquish. Now, I’m not sure if the lack of polish or epic sounding songs were calculated or not (possibly to give it a more true heavy metal sound, I dunno) but I can tell you I don’t care for the departure from Advance And Vanquish and Fire Up The Blades feel of grandeur or shine.

5/10

3 Inches Of Blood On MySpace

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace