Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Season of Mist

This happy little EP is coming out on transparent blue 10″ vinyl and CD. And by happy I mean boner-inducing prog metal happy.
Sing-along choruses are put to real effective use on Carbon-Based Anatomy, especially in my favorite track, “Box Up My Bones”, while crunchy heavy riffs are under the leads that soar and spin with grace, beauty, and perfection. The lush sounds, amazing solos, and beautiful singing that Cynic fans have come to enjoy ever since Focus are even more omnipresent here. Synths bubble and churn, with precise drumming that has a real human hand attached to it, and both are still done by Sean Reinert. The bass work is, as usual, amazing, taken care of by Sean Malone, who is no longer in the band.
There is a real sense of wonder with Carbon-Based Anatomy, a feeling of freedom and exploration heretofore only really glimpsed at with Focus and Traced in Air. It is as if the guys picked up their instruments and said “Play. No matter what comes out, if it’s pushing the Cynic envelope, it’s good to go. No limits, no compromise.” It’s inspiring to say the least, and I can’t wait for my record to arrive.
9 out of 10.

Cynic on Facebook.

California death metal trio Dreaming Dead are readying to unleash their long-awaited new full-length entitled Midnightmares. The follow-up to their 2009 Within One opus, was recorded from June through September of this year. All guitars and bass were tracked at the band’s own studio in downtown Los Angeles while the drums and vocals were tracked at Architeuthis Sound, (where Midnightmares was also mixed). The final product is nothing short of immense. Midnightmares offers up nine tracks of crushingly elaborate death metal anthems as led by band leader, vocalist and guitar priestess, Elizabeth Schall.

Dreaming Dead have continued their ascent to the mightiest of metal’s ranks with their sophomore release, Midnightmares. Retaining many of the extreme metal elements of Within One, Midnightmares showcases a more refined Dreaming Dead, playing with greater precision and offering an even deeper and more provocative musical experience.

As an added bonus, Midnightmares features cover art by renown metal artists Travis Smith, known for his striking work on records from Death, Sadus, Katatonia, Opeth, King Diamond and so many others.

Commented Schall and Mike Caffell (drums, vocals), of the release: “With Midnightmares, we wanted to record an album based around the concepts of night and, obviously, nightmares. We shaped our lyrics as such, and wrote music to capture both the violent, chaotic nature of dreams and the quiet tranquility of the night. We also crafted the album to flow as a whole, symbolizing the progression of an evening into night, and then into dawn; as if the songs couldn’t exist without one another. And, yes, we’re still bringing the speed and brutality.”

Midnightmares Track Listing:
1. Wake
2. Corpse Mountain
3. Overlord
4. Exile
5. In Memoriam
6. Lapse
7. Into The Depths
8. Midnightmares
9. Departure

Members Schall, Caffell and bassist Juan Ramirez have honed their characteristic aural assault of black metal, death metal, and thrash on a nationwide basis for the last four years, sharing the stage with the likes of Morbid Angel, Nile, Immolation, Krisiun, Monstrosity, Master, and Dying Fetus. This Midnightmares-era sees Dreaming Dead sowing the seeds of such time spent on the road, and those picking up the new album or catching the band live will no doubt be struck at how much further Dreaming Dead have taken their groundbreaking metal stylings.

Midnightmares will be released on October 31, 2011 as a digital download via the band’s official web site. Stay tuned for further details. In the meantime, check out the demo version of the title track at their Facebook page.

Genre: Death Metal
Label: Relapse Records

Where was I back in 1990? Well, truthfully, I was five. Now, if I could, I would take this release to my five-year-old self and tell myself flat out that this was my future. I’d say “Little Blaspheme, Morta Skuld are going to rip a new asshole in the death metal world, and with this little disc you will witness it happening.” I’d then have to provide a Discman to myself.

But, unfortunately, I can’t go back in time literally. Instead, I’ll use this digital promo to do that work for me, and take me to a time, mentally, when death metal was fucking brutal, uncompromising, and lacking bullshit. Before autotune and ProTools. And before ‘core ruined a generation of metal fans.

Morta Skuld are seriously that kind of band. And to think that this was recorded in April of ’90, just a few days after my fifth birthday!
The songs are not that long, two-and-a-half, three-and-a-half minutes long, but in those brief times Morta Skuld are putting together some genuinely great riffs that have equally great solos layered over top. Vocally, Dave Gregor reminds me a bit of a Tardy/Benton/Schuldiner/Barnes combo, which could be somewhat attributed to the fact that Grief, Death’s manager, was involved with the band pretty much right form the start. Drumming is top-notch, fast and tight as hell, but with the right amount of looseness to make it come alive.

My favorite tracks are “Gory Departure”, “Through the Eyes of Death” (no wonder why they chose it as the disc’s title), and “Feast From Within”.

8 out of 10.

Morta Skuld on Facebook.

Genres: Progressive Death Metal, Technical Death Metal
Label: Willowtip

In the span of forty-five minutes and forty-one seconds Gigan not only push their own envelope, but the envelopes of pretty much all of technical and progressive death metal bands.
A mindblowing (fuck bending, it’s outright gone) adventure through the cosmos as only these Chicago natives can do, Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes is perfect for many reasons, most notably that you can hear it in the background, driving, or you can listen to it, with headphones and a darkened room. It’s not a one-way road with Gigan, it’s a multi-lane highway of listening choices.
It’s also perfect because it’s just a solid fucking album. Sure, it’s prog and tech, but it’s also got songs in it, which is what ultimately makes or breaks an album. If you have no songs, just a bunch of wankery, that’s all you have. If you, like Gigan, have songs, you have albums, fans, and the thing that keeps you in the music business, sales.
Which brings me to my final point. This is gonna be on colored vinyl, as well as CD. So don’t be an ass, and buy this album. I ordered the vinyl before I even heard the promo tracks.
10 out of 10.

Gigan on Facebook.
Gigan on Myspace.

Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Label: Listenable Records

Polish masters of blackened death, Hate sound in some ways a lot like Behemoth. They’ve got a similar vocal style and music writing, but there seems to be less of a black metal atmosphere to Hate’s music, taking a more direct death metal approach.
And fuck is it great. Not a note is wasted, not a breath is in vain; Erebos goes for the throat of the religious and the weak with seemingly no regard for the safety of those that get in the way.
The production of the album lets you hear everything, each guitar, each bassline, each drum kick, snare, cymbal and tom, allowing for maximum air instruments. The vocals of ATF Sinner are deep and evil, and you’ll soon find yourself invisible-oranging to them without conscious thought.
Erebos is nearly a perfect album, and if you’re into Behemoth, Morbid Angel, or Death you should get it.
8.5 out of 10.

Hate on Facebook.
Hate on MySpace.