Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Death Metal

Label: Comatose Music

I had high hopes for this Russian “brutal death metal” (WHY?!) outfit. I was hoping that Aborted Fetus was an amalgamation of Dying Fetus and Aborted like the name might suggest if you’re really high like I was when I got it in the mail. Unfortunately, you can easily tell someone that they’re listening to Pathology’s Age Of Onset and they’ll never guess that it’s actually Fatal Dogmatic Damage.

At first I was gonna say that Aborted Fetus takes every song from the death metal jam-by-numbers playbook… but after a full listen through, I’m gonna change that to Aborted Fetus takes every song from THE SAME PAGE the death metal jam-by-numbers playbook. Seriously, there is zero difference between songs except for a sound-byte at the beginning of every other track. And even then, it just somebody screaming in a monster flick from the 50′s.

Some silver lines in Fatal Dogmatic Damage are the every once in a while, but not nearly often enough riffs that aren’t simple chugs or sloppy grind thefts. Total Sodomization is the best song on the album, mainly because it has the least amount of everything that makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Also, there is some bitchin’ bass work in there too. Come to think of it, the bass is the only thing in this album that doesn’t feel like banal deja vu.

Most annoyingly of all, these Kermit-The-Pig-Squealer vocals ain’t cutting it for me. They aren’t the worst vocals I’ve ever heard, but they’re resting comfortably in my least favorite style of death metal growl/squeals. Blech!

But to be fair, I’ve heard far worse bands in this genre than Aborted Fetus that get much more notoriety. You can hear the passion in the way they play and that means something to me. I can recommend this album to you, but only if you dig death metal with heart and not something that was shit out by a couple of guys that do it for the fame (because let’s be honest, who can really do this for the money?).

Overall: If all you care about when it comes to death metal is whether or not it’s brutal and you could never understand the lyrics in a billion years, then Fatal Dogmatic Damage would be a perfect addition to your collection of other sub-par death metal.

4/10

Aborted Fetus On MySpace

Genre: Black Metal

Label: Agonia Records

I went through a period a couple years ago where I was really into DSBM, or depressive/suicidal black metal. Forgotten Tomb are one of the bigger names of the genre, but they never really clicked for me. Mainly because their music isn’t depressing, which as you have no doubt determined is a key attribute of DSBM.

“Under Saturn Retrogade” is no different, and maybe even worse; I’m not sure about the latter because I’m not intimately  familiar with their discography.

This album sounds like Satyricon’s “Now, Diabolical”, the music being mainly watered down, catchy black metal. Whether the band genuinely thought they were writing depressing black metal or not, I cannot say, but there are cliche power chord riffs and half assed vocals as far as the eye can see. How exactly is this DSBM again?

Unfortunately, Forgotten Tomb don’t stop there, oh no sir. They push themselves even further away from black metal with the inclusion of clean vocals sprinkled throughout the album. This is not necessarily a bad choice, some bands (Lurker of Chalice) do it well, but the execution is awful and sounds like the kind of “emotional” singing you hear in nu-metal and post grunge crap.

I’m going to wrap this up quickly, as I don’t have much else to say about this album besides how it’s not depressing or black metal or good, but I will say something positive. The  last 3 songs on the album, all of which feature prominent acoustic guitars, flow together pleasantly, and I think they sound like something of a trilogy. They suck less ass than the rest of the album.

Overall, I wouldn’t say this isn’t worth listening to unless you’re already a fan of the band. I can’t recommend this to fans of DSBM because it fails as an attempt at DSBM, and I can’t recommend it to fans of black metal because it fails as an attempt at black metal. For a truly superior Depressive Suicidal listening experience, go pick up Thy Light’s “Suici.depression” or ”Soundtrack to a Suicide – Opus II” by Nocturnal Depression.

I rate this 4/10, all 4 points coming from the final 3 songs.

Forgotten Tomb on Myspace

Genre: Progressive/Technical Death Metal

Label: Willowtip Records

In the ever expanding world of metal, few bands polarize audiences like Gigan and their ilk. The sweep picking, uber-technical, organized cacophony machines.  Revered for their technical prowess. Hated for their pretentiousness. I’m a student of the later school. Sure you can play, but mind bending guitar work doesn’t solely make a band worth listening to. Is Gigan going to be the band to change my mind about these technical wangers? Read on and find out.

During the course of Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes, I had a handful of reoccurring thoughts:

1) This band in no reminds me of any sort of kaiju.

2) This band is 83% unfathomable guitar wizardry.

and 3) I CAN’T FUCKING BANG MY HEAD TO THIS!!!

So I guess the answer to my earlier question is “no”. I mean, I can see the appeal on some level. The songs are fast, furious and full of conscience altering guitar work and off time drums. But that’s it. The vocals (as mentioned in other reviews) are generic death metal vocals. Think George Fisher in Kill and subtract all of the notoriety. If that’s all you really care about or if you have the stomach for a band that’s praised for their advancements yet has all of their mediocre traits just glossed over, then you’re probably gonna love this album regardless of any review you read. But for those of you who have higher standards for your metal (then you probably wouldn’t be anywhere near this website), then you’re gonna be left high and dry.

Overall: This band honestly doesn’t need to exist. The guitarist should just splinter off and just do a solo project of him making spanking material for all the Guitar Center picks that love this shit.

4/10

Gigan On MySpace

Genre: Doom, Groove, Hard Rock
Label: Giddy Up Records

Death Row? PENTAGRAM?!?! …A Place Of Skulls. Some say it’s progression. Some say regression. But none seem to hold them all around or in the same regard. I for one, can see and appreciate what Victor and Lee are shooting for; Hard rockin’ doom with some groovy breaks and soulful… ballad-ish-ness? Ok, that last bit caught me off guard and pretty much puts me out there with the rest of you going “Boooooo!” already.

As A Dog Returns is kind of preachy bit of music (but you already knew it was gonna be) and that takes a couple of points off from yours truly. Victor Griffen’s voice is spot on for the kind of stuff they’re peddling, but has seen better days, I’m sure. Griffen’s licks are pretty sweet when he gets into a weird acid rock kinda zone as well. Lee Abney’s bass is way the hell up in the mix, more so than I would of excepted regardless of the genre. On top of that, it’s pretty “meh” all things considered. The shining star of this trio is drummer Tim Tomaselli. He brings a groovy presence that As A Dog Returns truly needed. But it’s to little to late.

Overall: There are many spots in this album that remind me of radio rock while others recall times of doom metal’s heyday. But the latter are too few and too far between to really give a shit. I wanted to like As A Dog Returns, but it just didn’t take.

4/10

A Place Of Skulls On MySpace
A Place Of Skulls Official