Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Deathcore, Hardcore, Metalcore
Label: Independent
Format: CD (Physical Promo)

Marry Me, Murder are a local band, who some will remember were one of the bands at the first Funeral Rain Records show. They have since gone on to press some merch and record themselves an ep proper. Five tracks of MMM’s brand of death influenced hardcore is something I’ve been hoping to hear ever since I saw them live. I wondered if they would be able to pull off their show in a studio, and it would seem that they did.
The heavy Killswitch Engage/Sepultura/Alexisonfire style riffage that I loved from these guys is in full force. Vocals are pretty varied, from death growls to clean singing. I just wish I could remember which dude is Dion and which is Rick! Drums and bass are solid, with some gorgeous snap on the snare, but I would have personally brought the bass up just a bit in the mix, or even just turned the mids up a bit more on the amp.
In all, this is a great first EP. Now if only the band credits were present on it…
7.5 out of 10.

Victimology Tracklisting:
1. Cold Blooded Calibers for Cold Hearted Men
2. Ernie Doesn’t Like the Monsters
3. Crepitus
4. Chivalry is Dead
5. Giant Killer Space Bees Vs. Flying Sharks

Victimology Personnel:
Jaydon Bunney: Drums
Jessey Bunney: Guitar
Dion Amphlett: Vocals
Jake Leggo: Bass
Rick Holmberg: Vocals
Matt Reimer: Guitar

Marry Me, Murder on Facebook.

Genres: Death Metal, Progressive Grindcore
Label: Relapse Records

FTF have been a favorite of mine for a long time, as readers of this site may well know. When I was given the opportunity to download and review the new album from the PR company, I was stoked. So yeah, I downloaded the promo, listened to it a couple times, and loved it. But never had the actual time to get my thoughts on it down. Then last night I was in HMV and ended up grabbing a copy of the album. So now that I have the physical version I’m making the time to review it properly.

This is definitely one of the strangest FTF albums so far. It has the grinding of previous albums Stigmata High Five and Disgorge Mexico, but it blends in more of the death metal influence that was very obvious on the Unnamed 7″. Absent are the slower, pretty parts that hearken back to 80′s thrash (especially Metallica) that were featured on Disgorge Mexico. The songs seem longer too, and in continuing with FTF traditions, there is a long song that is almost seven-and-a-half minutes long (“Census Blank”). This song also has a guy doing vocals on it, but due to the awesome amounts of liner notes for the album I have no idea who is doing them. Probably one of the guys in the band.

The second-longest song brings in another FTF tradition, a song in French! “95″ is the tune, and it’s a really fast, angry sounding track that makes me want to mosh like crazy, especially during the guitar solo. This one is a good example of the strangeness of the album too: it’s got a slower riff that really strikes me as a Black Sabbath worship riff. Totally doomy with a touch of psychrock going on.

These little sections are peppered all over the album, riffs that just are not typical grindcore or death metal, but bringing in other genres that influence the men and lady of FTF. And the way that they work with the more typical Fuck the Facts sound is amazing!

In the end, Die Miserable is a sweet album, and definitely should be looked at for those that are into Pig Destroyer, Buried Inside, Gigan, Napalm Death, and Nasum.

8.5 out of 10.

Fuck the Facts on Facebook.

Genre: Depressive Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal
Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records

It’s quite unreal the amount of quality work that is coming from Hypnotic Dirge as a record label. Skog has been signing such great bands that really are different from the standards in depressive black metal (which is HDR’s primary bread and butter along with more ambient sounds), and Funeral Fornication is not a change of his general attitude.

FF’s newest album, Pandemic Trangression, is at it’s core depressive black metal but it has so many facets to it that it almost immediately steps out from the shadow of generic one man closet DSBM. Clean guitars and pianos, true singing, and symphonics that would make Dimmu Borgir proud are brought together with a real rawness that you could only get from the mountains of British Columbia.

This is Canadian black metal like no other, and I definitely recommend it for fans of the aforementioned Dimmu Borgir, old Cradle of Filth, Spectre, and the shoegazing black metal that is seeming to be taking over the world (Alcest, An Autumn for Crippled Children, etc…).

8 out of 10.

Funeral Fornication on MySpace.

Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Stomp Records

Byron Stroud, best known for his work in Strapping Young Lad and Fear Factory, started this band from the reunion of Caustic Thought, and brought Burton C. Bell in when the original singer decided not to take part. So what ended up happening is a strange little bastard child was created with City of Fire – its a beast with a very diverse set of teeth.
Opening with the particularly catchy/nut punching “Carve Your Name”, a mood is definitely set for the album, and it’s obvious it’s not a cheery one. The music seems to be taking cues from death metal, with maybe a bit of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest influence (a nod to trad metal song structure/tone) or even Canadian hard rock from the 90′s (hm… strange that…).
There’s even some touches of Type O here.
Overall, there’s tons of stuff going on with various tempos, moods – usually angry or melancholic moods – and textures in the general sound of the album. A great thing about this is it’s catchiness. It wouldn’t surprise me if you checked it out and was singing choruses the next day.
At first listen, however, I hated this. I even wrote a different review that ripped this album all new sets of assholes. Then I listened to it again, and realized it’s pretty damn good. And that I shouldn’t listen to review material when I’m in a bad mood.
Favorite tracks: “Carve Your Name” and “Rising”. The latter s a great hard rock tune while the former is an angry metal song that will definitely get stuck in your head.
7 out of 10.

City of Fire on Facebook.

Genre: Thrash, Progressive

Label: Sonic Unyon Metal

I’m going to start off this review by saying that I am only a moderate fan of Voivod. Moderate in the sense that I only own three Voivod albums (War And Pain, Nothingface and Killing Technology), but I love them to death! So, the fact that I squealed like a little obsessed fan girl at the announcement of Warriors Of Ice in my inbox should come as no surprise to anyone. “Voivod live… on CD?” I thought. “It’s not at the Roseland, but it’s damn good enough for me!”

Starting off stronger than just about any band I’ve ever heard (be in person or just recorded live) with Voivod, these Canadian thrashers show that time has not, nor will it slow them down! Snake sounds just as pissed off and drunk as ever, stopping between tracks to banter with the audience. Blacky’s opening bass riff in Tribal Convictions is just as bone jarring as anything I’ve heard from him already, as well as any other time we get the privilege of hearing his bass booming through the rest of the band’s super tight performance.

The selection of songs on Warriors Of Ice is a perfect blend of older, more thrashier songs and just as equally old and every bit as cool prog-thrash songs. In other words, they play all of my favorites from the three albums I already own and the others that are new to me are icing of the goddamned cake!

I can’t even really say anything about the quality of the recording! It’s honestly one of the best sounding live albums I’ve ever heard (outside of Nevermore’s Year Of The Voyager). It lets just the right amount of atmospheric pops and feedback bleed through just to let you know that this is, in fact, a live recording. Well, that and the rabid, screaming Canuks in attendance…

Interestingly enough, the song Warriors Of Ice is nowhere to be found on this live album… :(

Overall: Warriors Of Ice is a strong entry in Voivod’s already Herculean library. I recommend this album to anyone who digs Voivod even a little. Please. Indulge.

9.5/10

Voivod Official

Voivod On Reverbnation

Voivod On Facebook