Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Deathgrind, Goregrind, Technical Deathgrind
Label: Metal Blade Records
Format: CD (Personal Collection)

From the heavy intro to “The Carbon Stampede” to the melodically-charged brutal ending of “Kingdom of Tyrants”, Monolith of Inhumanity carves a swath through the death/gore/tech grinders the world over. Uncompromisingly mindcrushing, even during the more melodic sections, this disc is going to be in the top ten of my albums of the year, guaranteed.
Travis Ryan’s voice alternates between wonderfully enunciated and easily understood death vocals to absolutely gutteral, barely decipherable even with the lyric sheet goregrind grunts, to a delay and echo touched singing that is still angry and death metal as fuck. His performance the entire album over is a definite highlight in itself. Lyrically I love this album; it ranges in topics from the self-destruction of the human race, to human overpopulation (and a solution in “Forced Gender Reassignment”), to the hazards of following Christ, and of course, above all, gore!
The vitriol from Travis is assisted by three killer musicians that all know their shit. Josh Elmore’s guitars are crushing and savage. My neck has not been this abused by a studio album since… well… ever. The leads are inventive while still keeping his style firm in death and grind, the solos finger flaying. The rhythms are fast, brutal and when it’s time to tech out, amazing.
Derek Engemann’s bass work is phenomenal, his tone and speed suggesting fingers over picks, with not a few pops and slaps thrown in to crush your face in. I think there might be a couple instances where he does switch up to a pick, but those might just be the right way of hitting the strings.
The backbone of the band, the human grinder himself, is Dave McGraw. The dude is hyper precise and his speed is unreal. From just straight grinds to technical drumming to bringing it down to a slower pace, Dave has recorded a drum clinic here that also comes, handily enough, with killer music and vocals.
As individuals, Cattle Decapitation are a bunch of dudes that kick serious ass, and would garner a high review themselves. As a whole, they’ve crafted an album that I’ve listened to about twenty to thirty times in the past two weeks since it arrived at the post office. This is not just a few good tracks or a couple nice clever riffs. Monolith of Inhumanity is an entire package, and it’s perfect.
10 out of 10.

Monolith of Inhumanity Tracklisting:
1. The Carbon Stampede
2. Dead Set on Suicide
3. A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat
4. Forced Gender Reassignment
5. Gristle Licker
6. Projectile Ovulation
7. Lifestalker
8. Do Not Resuscitate
9. Your Disposal
10. The Monolith
11. Kingdom of Tyrants

Monolith of Inhumanity Personnel:
Travis Ryan – All Vocals
Josh Elmore – All Guitars
Derek Engemann – Bass
Dave McGraw – Drums

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

Legendary Singaporean blackened warbeasts Impiety are set to unleash eighth studio album through Pulverised Records this May. Offering up eight grisly tracks, including a cover of Bathory’s “Sacrifice,” the aptly titled Ravage & Conquer was recorded, mixed and mastered over a course of two weeks at Studio 47 in Singapore and features cover art by renowned illustrator, Lord Sickness (Sabbat, Witchaven, Zygoatsis, etc).

Savagely innovative, technical, and uncompromising, Ravage & Conquer lives up to its name. Led by frontman Shyaithan, Impiety’s covenant of chaos remains impenetrable, delivering some of the harshest and most vicious brand of blackened death metal the world has witnessed.

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

Ravage & Conquer will be released in North America via Pulverised Records on May 8, 2012.

Impiety on Facebook.

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