Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Blackened Thrash
Label: Indie Recordings
Format: Digital Stream (Earsplit PR)

One band that I’ve known about forever but have never checked out is Aura Noir, and I’m now kicking myself in the ass for not checking them sooner. It’s no wonder why they come up a lot when it comes to talks about black metal meeting thrash. These guys make a perfect example of the genre.
Parts of this remind me of a version of Metallica with actual balls. Parts remind me of Venom worship. And parts even remind me of Darkthrone’s The Cult Is Alive album. Granted, it’s not like Aura Noir are legitimate friends with Darkthrone or anything.
There isn’t really much to say. Fast, faster, and fastest riffs fill this album from front to back, and a disgusting necrotic stench emanates from every vocal. Solos are ear piercing and finger breaking, drums are deep with some snare click and fast, and the bass compliments rather than takes any form of front seat. This is fucking awesome!
If you want your thrash punked up with a nice coat of blackened grave dirt, this album is for you.
8 out of 10.

Out To Die Tracklisting:
1. Trenches
2. Fed to the Flames
3. Abbadon
4. The Grin from the Gallows
5. Withheld
6. Priest’s Hellish Fiend
7. Deathwish
8. Out To Die

Out To Die Personnel:
Aggressor – Vocals/Guitar
Apollyon – Vocals/Bass/Drums
Blasphemer – Guitar

Aura Noir Official.
Aura Noir on Facebook.

Genre: Black Metal
Label: Panzerfaust Productions

Chaotic black metal in the vein of Marduk, England’s Blooddawn return with Opus Dei. This particular disc has been in my possession for awhile, having been released in 2011, but I haven’t had the opportunity to actually sit down and listen to it, which is how I best enjoy Blooddawn.
Finally, though, I took the time to give this CD-R a couple spins, and I like what I hear. There isn’t much change in sound between the last albums and this, but the song structures and songwriting itself are much stronger. The chaos is palpable; the rage that fills the previous releases has only been fueled, it seems, and it permeates this entire album. Evil tones spew into the ears and almost immediately air bass and headbanging slam my brain around. There is a doomy atmosphere to the tracks at times, especially in the opening of “Adorning the Crown of Flies”, which is probably not coincidentally my favorite track on the album.
8 out of 10.

Opus Dei Tracklisting:
1. Opus Dei
2. When Gods Die
3. Adorning the Crown of Flies
4. Embracing the Theory of Divine Superiority
5. A Great Cleansing
6. Subjugation of the Weak

Opus Dei Personnel:
Donn – Vocals
P – Instruments; Lyrics and vocals on “Embracing the Theory…”

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: Atmospheric Death Metal, Funeral Doom
Label: Selfmadegod Records
Format: Digital Promo (Earsplit PR)

After several listens to this dirty, old school, obscure death metal album, I’m convinced that Encoffination are going to be leaders of the atmospheric death and funeral doom genres for a long time to come.
This is not your typical pretty sounding modern death metal. There are no clean breaks, no well-defined vocals that are enunciated and easily understood, no immensely fast solos, and no breakdowns. This is also not the doom that Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, or even My Dying Bride have created.
O’ Hell, Shine in thy Whited Sepulchres is guitar and bass driven, but organs and bells make their presence known, adding layers of atmosphere; combined with excruciatingly slow riffs and the very voice of death Himself, this album is not so much a collection of songs, but a collection of bodies. Of which, you can count your own a part of after listening.
The opening track is a short instrumental intro, “Sacrum Profanum Processionali”, and it helps to set the tone of imminent doom.
“Rites of Ceremonial Embalm’ment” follows, dragging you down into an ancient mortuary currently run by spectres of a diseased past.
The tone and feeling doesn’t ever let up through “Ritual Until Blood” and “Elegant in Their Funebrial Cloaks, Arisen”, only getting more oppressive and obscure in “Crypt of His Communal Devourment” and “Washed and Buried”.
“Pall of Unrequited Blood” and “Annunciation of Viscera” are somewhat faster than the rest of the album, but by no means any less oppressive feeling. “Annunciation…” is also the longest track on the album, taking just under eleven minutes to destroy your will to survive.
In all, this is a great album. I’ll be coming back to it a lot, for both pleasure and inspiration.
8 out of 10.

Encoffination on Facebook.

O’ Hell, Shine in Thy Whited Sepulchres Tracklisting:
1. Sacrum Profanum Processionali
2. Rites of Ceremonial Embalm’ment
3. Ritual Until Blood
4. Elegant in Their Funebrial Cloaks, Arisen
5. Crypt of His Communal Devourment
6. Washed and Buried
7. Pall of Unrequited Blood
8. Annunciation of Viscera

O’ Hell, Shine in Thy Whited Sepulchres Personnel:
Elektrokutioner: Drums, Percussion
Ghoat: Guitars, Bass, Vocals, Organ, Bells

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