Funeral Rain Press Corps

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: Death Metal

Label: Comatose Music

Let’s get this right out of the way: Yes. James Lee is the vocalist for this band. And no, Face Of Oblivion is not an Origin clone. Why would it be since James is the vocalist and doesn’t oversee the songwriting on that level? Geez. The things you have to do to keep the stupid question from rolling on in…

And since I’m being frank, I’ll just come out and say this too: Face Of Oblivion plays death metal that’s so generic that it’s almost physically painful to think about. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good death metal. It gets the blood flowing and the head a-bangin’, but it’s also just so bland and the sense of metal deja vu hits you so hard that you’ll undoubtedly be done with it after you get about four tracks (which are honestly the best tracks in the album).

Yeah, James Lee does his thing with extreme prejudice and that’s great and all… but goddamn it, man cannot mosh on vocals alone! As far as the guitars go, there are some pretty good, albeit short solos, but there’s not a whole lot in between them. Most of the riffs are either recycled, inverted and/or repeated ad nauseum. So, not a lot of hope in that department. However, the drumming is pretty damned impressive with enough rolls to feed a nation and then you could turn around and destroy it with the atomic blast beats that plow though the whole album.

Lyrically… fuck. Do you even really need me to tell you? Standard death metal bravado with those tired “beaten and bloodied” themes. Drowned In Blood. The Dissection. Torture Harvest. Etc… The Embers Of Man is a negative zone for originality.

Overall: The Embers Of Man is a serviceable album. It gets the job done if you’re in some sort of a jam where there are absolutely zero death metal or death metal-like albums to be found and you MUST listen to some good ol’ DM or else the world will end or something. I’ll still be holding on to my copy of The Embers Of Man, but that’s just in case an end of the world scenario does pop up…

6/10

Face Of Oblivion On ReverbNation

Face Of Oblivion On Facebook

Ah, Cianide. The classic Chicago Death Metal band that’s so crushingly, lurchingly heavy they’re like Obituary on steroids. This was definitely an album I was looking forward to hearing, along with various other Old-School Death Metal comebacks and New-Wave-of-Old-School-Death-Metal (NWOSDM?) releases.

I never actually heard their last “comeback” album (2005′s  ”Hell’s Rebirth”), so my only frame of reference for Cianide is their 90′s golden era, which spawned evil, monolithic, and fucking DOOOOOM albums like “The Dying Truth” and “A Descent Into Hell”. “Gods of Death” isn’t quite as slow as the classics, and the small change of pace subtly shifts the feel of the music away from the band’s former death-doom majesty. The riffs tend to sound a little bit more generic, and at times the band employs galloping motorhead-inspired style very similar to that of fellow Chicago natives Master. That’s not necessarily a negative thing, and I like the adrenaline charged, testosterone powered shenanigans of Motorhead and Master, but this isn’t really what I wanted from Cianide. There are still doomy passages in every song, but the dead, abysmal sound of  ”Second Life” and “The Undead March” is no more.

Don’t get me wrong, there is enjoyment to be found in this album, but whether their dynamic shift was a conscious decision or just natural progression, it does not deliver on the level Cianide have been capable of in the past. In short, this is far better than Morbid Angel’s latest, “Illud Divinum Insanus”, but it has nothing on Autopsy’s 2011 instant classic “Macabre Eternal”. I’d give this a 6/10, worth a listen for Cianide fans or dedicated Old School Death Metal junkies like myself.

Genre: Modern Thrash, Metalcore
Label: Dynamic Arts Records

Hey! Dynamic Arts Records! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? So how’s every little thing? Yeah, yeah. Man, it’s great to hear from you again! What’s that? You’ve got something for me? Really?! Thanks a ton! I’ll jump right on it!

*And scene*

After sorting through the veritable mountain of promos that I received from Dynamic Arts Records, Dead Shape Figure caught my attention with their odd name. Ok, in the player you go…

Yes! The Disease Of St. Vitus bolts straight out of the gate with some killer thrash riffs and fly into some pretty brutal screams (a la Tomas Lindberg) in album opener Suicide Continental. It builds from there with some metalcore-ish structure and more forward momentum with Seraphim. Along the way, Dead Shape Figure jumps from thrashy-aggressive headbanging metal to melancholic pseudo-metal with little to no notice, rhyme or reason. It’s a good way to keep ‘em guessing while simultaneously alienating your audience.

But then you come upon songs like Face On The Nails that just kill the flow that was building up. The cycle just keeps on repeating itself: Cool song, same kind of cool song, *fart*, etc…

If you really want to break it down, Disease Of St. Vitus just kind of sits there. It doesn’t really try anything new and it doesn’t really leave a lasting impression. I like it. It’s definitely good as a workout album or something to have on in the background when you’re blasting away some Geth or whatnot. Just don’t except many people to be clamoring to hear Idiopolis or Madonna Of Seven Sorrows (although that is a cool name).

Overall: If you’re a fan of Dew-Scented (like me) then you’ll dig Dead Shape Figure’s The Disease Of St. Vitus. Sure it’s far from perfect and it’s not anything special at all… shit. I forgot were I was going with that. Anyway, Disease Of St. Vitus… it’s an album!

6/10

Dead Shape Figure On MySpace
Dead Shape Figure Official

Genre: Hard Rock, Progressive Rock
Label: Dynamic Art Records

I’m not going to lie here… this album was difficult to review/listen too. The songs on Babies Of Revolution are either one of two things: Either 1) Genius or 2) Complete Crap. Seriously, this album probably holds the strangest state of perfect homeostatic symmetry between auditory gold and musical horse shit! Tracks like Panda Girl, Wash My Sins Away and End Of The World are fountains of joy, containing catchy licks, fun vocals and intricate synths. But on the flip side, tracks like Fake, Cherry Pit and Sweet Revenge are rife with junkyard leavings. The vocals sound… off, like during the recording of those tracks, the vocalist had a huge lump of phlegm in her throat and never bothered to hack it out or something. Even the synths sound lacking (which sucks since those are my favorite part of this album), as if the keyboard itself knows that this album has potential, but it’s already been doused in other areas. “So fuck it,” it thinks.

Overall: A mixed bag of entertaining neo-gothic, The Gathering-esque rock/metal and “what the hell were you thinking” garbage. Luckily, it still manages to be entertaining in a couple of ways.

6/10

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