Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Epic Fantasy Metal
Label: Napalm Records

Finnish fantasy metal pioneers Battlelore return once again to spread their death-infused fantasy metal that seems at times to be based in the gothic metal arena that Napalm Records is famous for.
The album itself is huge in scope, the sound filled to the brim and sometimes overflowing with keyboards and flute with a driving, heavy guitar leading the way.

Kaisa’s vocals are gorgeous and strong, much stronger than many other female vocalists in the genre, even when she’s singing in a softer voice. Tomi’s, however, are just pure strong. His death metal voice is demanding of attention, and he seriously could be in a death metal band by himself if he chose, and I’m sure he’d be really successful.
I think fans of Dimmu Borgir’s majestic offerings would probably like this, same for fans of Eluveitie, Elis, and Draconian.
7 out of 10.

Battlelore on Facebook.

Genres: Heavy Metal, Power Metal
Label: Frontiers Records

It’s a boring Holiday Monday here at FRZ HQ as I type this, and to bust up the boredom, Benedictum come crashing in with some great heavy metal with good amounts of power thrown in for measure.
The guitars of Pete Wells are shredtastic riffs and Veronica Freeman’s vocals are stellar. Chris’ five string bass and Mikey’s drumwork form a solid spine to support everything else, along with Tony’s keys (which I wish were a little more present).
This stuff rocks, perfect for fans of Judas Priest, Armour, and Iron Maiden. They’ve been noticed by metal god Ronnie James Dio and worked with George Lynch and Jeff Pilsen, and this album, their newest, hold much promise to bring Benedictum to the fore of American traditional metal.
7 out of 10.

Benedictum on Facebook.
Benedictum Official Site.

Genre: Doom
Label: Peaceville

English doom masters Anathema’s classic 1995 album The Silent Enigma was remastered and rereleased by Peaceville in 2003, and as a wicked bonus, it comes with a DVD with four promo vids and a 1996 concert in Krakow.
The album itself is rifftastic, slow moving doom with astonishing vocals from Vincent Cavanagh, who at the time the album was recorded was brand new to the microphone. It’s very British, with comparisons to My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, the other two bands that along with Anathema make up the Peaceville Three, but it’s different in ways that defines Anathema from the rest of the doom metal pack.
For The Silent Enigma, I award a 7.5 out of 10.
The DVD, entitled A Vision of a Dying Embrace, is really good. The promo videos are pretty much what you’d expect, the same vids you could have caught on MTV, MuchMusic, or any other music video TV station back when they still existed. As it is, you can probably catch these videos on YouTube now. The concert, however, is a different story.
It’s a very well filmed show in what looks like a fair-sized venue with a pretty big and supportive crowd. The audio is exceptional, with many camera angles to enjoy the concert from. In many cases the view is much more intimate than what the concertgoers themselves could attain, which is pretty damn sweet. This is the kind of show that could be put onto it’s own DVD without being included as a bonus to an album.
A Vision of a Dying Embrace gets itself an 8 out of 10.

Anathema Fan Page on Facebook.

Genre: Gothic Metal
Label: Napalm Records

Midnattsol is another band I’ve never listened to before, but after giving The Metamorphosis Melody a listen, I wish I had gotten to hear them earlier.
A mournful, slower gothic metal seems to be The Metamorphosis Melody, a haunting album full of strong guitar riffs, great leads, and a woman who can sing a great tenor. There are faster songs on the disc (“A Poet’s Prayer” is one of them), but for the most part the album doesn’t move much faster than a walk. It’s perfect for the Discman and a forest on a spring day. The keys are more of a background element, supporting the guitar and voice. Drums and bass are even further in behind, holding everything up, occasionally coming closer to the fore during choruses.
Favorites are “Spellbound”, “A Poet’s Prayer”, and “Goodbye”.
7 out of 10.

Midnattsol on Facebook.
Midnattsol on MySpace.

Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Casket Music

Melodic death metal from England, but originally from New Zealand, Monsterworks steps up to fill an interesting void that I didn’t know existed. Inspired by Deicide and Queen, full of melodeath riffage (think early In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and Cynic) and mixed death and classic metal vocals (Cryptopsy, AC/DC), The God Album is a really good listen.
It’s definitely not for everyone (hipsters beware!), as it’s a little bit of a tough-to-digest listen if you’re not fluent in metal. True fans of multiple genres will find this to their tastes I’m sure.
Favorite tracks are “Everything You Believe is a Lie”, “The Enemy of My Enemy”, and the album closer “(Hymn of) Fire”.
7 out of 10.

Monsterworks on Facebook.
Monsterworks on MySpace.