Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Death Metal
Label: Deathgasm Records

Out of the gate Nominon’s Monumentomb is a killer monument to death metal. Old schoolers who miss the classic 80s and 90s death metal scene from Sweden are going to love this album, filled with brutal drumming, intense bass, and Metalgasmic solos.  New school fans of death who want a nice ticket to learn the ways of the older death metal, this is a perfect intro to it.
These guys have been around since ‘93, and since then they’ve put out, including Monumentomb, nineteen releases, so they aren’t no Johnny-come-lately band on the scene either. They know their shit, and it definitely shows in songs like “Mantra Reverse”, “Undead Beast”, and “Omen”.
It’s a mid-paced death with a creepy vibe going on, and it’s definitely my kind of metal. It’s not something that’s made by guys who are willing to compromise their ideas for someone else. This is highly recommended.
8.5 out of 10.

Nominon on MySpace.

Genre: Metalcore
Label: Unsigned

Well, as far as metalcore goes, Die Among Heroes is pretty damn good. Blending later day Killswitch Engage with (you guessed it) At The Gates and a smidgen of Soilwork, Die Among Heroes do what they can to springboard themselves out of a faceless genre and into the spotlight. This debut album has a “Metalcore 101/paint-by-numbers” feel to it at times. But little accents in the breakdowns and melodic riffs make it stand out just enough to get my attention.

Vocalist Chase Hughes has a fairly ranged voice that attempts to build bridges between melodic clean vocals, death growls and core screams. He reaches for Bjorn “Speed” Strid but falls sort and ends up with Killswitch Engage II, Howard Jones. With time, I’m sure he’ll reach his peak and blow me away. As for the string section, yeah. Pretty straight forward stuff. But every once in a while, you’ll get a wild riff that just crushes your skull (like halfway thought Perish What Ignites The Flame).

Overall – A budding band that needs a little time and support. Check ‘em out if you dig the more melodic stuff out there.

7/10

Die Among Heroes at MySpace

Originally posted on E-MetalSpace

Israeli extreme metallers SALEM have posted a track from their upcoming Pulverised full-length Playing God And Other Short Stories. Check out “Drums Of The Dead Part 1” on the band’s official MySpace page. More tracks from the record to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

The band’s seventh studio album was recorded at Harold Studios in Israel and mastered by UE Nastasi at the prestigious Sterling Sound in NYC. Playing God And Other Short Stories includes a guest vocal appearance by At The Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg, (on “The Mark Of The Beast Part 1” and “The Mark Of The Beast Part 2”) as well as a cover of Bob Marley’s “Exodus.”