Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Doom, Sludge
Label: Anthropic Records

One of my favorite labels has sent me a shiny new record! And it’s on transparent green vinyl! And it’s a fucking MONSTER of a record too!

Needless to say, I was pretty stoked to give this a spin, even on my asshole of a record player that doesn’t seem to want to send sound to the speakers properly. And for some reason, maybe because it understood the awesomeness of the vinyl, the speakers were sounding great. Thank you record player. Thank you.

Now, on to the review!

Side A is Philly’s Sadgiqacea, facestomping their way through two tracks (“The Great Divide”, “Avianizer”). Doom as doom can doom, these guys are so fucking awesome. I thought their older tracks on Bandcamp were great, but these two songs throw those into the mud. If you’re into stuff like Five Will Die, Black Tusk, Fight Amp, Bison B.C., and the Side B band Grass, you should check these guys out. If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I mention those bands, think of an angry Black Sabbath with Henry Rollins getting punched in the face by Justin Broadrick as the vocalist. 10 out of 10.

Side B is another Philly doom as fuck band, who continue to kick the shit out of their listeners and amps after Sadgiqacea leave off, who they also follow in the same vein musically. I feel sorry for stages and moshers that these guys play for, because if this is indicative of all their stuff (my first time hearing Grass), they destroy shit. Bleeding ears, noses, and knuckles all around. 10 out of 10.

Math should be obvious here. 10 out of 10.

Sadgiqacea on Facebook.
Grass on Facebook.

Genres: Doom, Stoner Metal
Label: Metal Blade

Bison B.C. are one of Vancouver’s best exports, laying a metallic swath across the continent that flattens even the most hardy of headbanger.
A heavy as hell mix of Sabbathian doom and Mastodon’s stoner riffage with the power of High on Fire.
In fact, I’d say Bison and High on Fire are pretty much soul brothers in the genre. A wall of crushing guitars that, after seeing both bands live, I think has caused permanent hearing damage. Especially since Bison’s show was in such a small club.
But I digress. This is about Dark Ages. This album is fucking heavy, and that includes the lyrics. Songs about Vancouver, what seems to be family abuse (I could be interpreting these lyrics wrong; they’re really well written), and of course, continuing the story of the Wendigo (we’re into Part 3 now with this album). My favorite song is “Melody, This is for You”, with “Fear Cave” taking the second spot.
In all, despite kicking a ton of ass, Dark Ages is like most stoner/doom albums: It doesn’t show the awesome majesty of the live show. If you get the chance to see these guys live, DO IT!
7.5 out of 10.

Bison B.C. on MySpace.