Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Black Metal
Label: Canonical Hours

Another CD from a label I’ve never spoken to. It was just there in my mailbox. I love that.
Anyway, Withershin have been around since 2006, on stages since 2008 with bands like Diabolical, and this being only their third release, I think they’ll be on stages for much longer.
It’s a strong black metal from a full band’s worth of ideas, four dudes ready to take the world in their evil hands. It reminds me at times of Emperor, a little bit of early Dimmu Borgir, and of course some Dark Funeral; in other words, brutality with some melody, the way true black metal should be made. These aren’t mouldy old riffs either, but fresh sounds that make me hunger to hear more.
The opener, “Wherein I Exalt” is a fair-length song with a whispered ending. The second, and title track, is a radio-length slab of evil sounding metal, and the final track, “Crossing the Threshold” starts off slow and pretty, then kicks you in the face with a really awesome riff and such grim vocals it’s unreal. I can’t wait for the next release.
8.5 out of 10.

Withershin on MySpace.

Genre: Dreamful Black Metal
Label: Naturmacht Productions

Opening with the 8+ minute long “Embrace of Nostalgia”, Wild Enchanted Gardens is another CD that makes my job easy, and I knew it would in the first three minutes of the song.
The music is so full of pure emotion that this could be an instrumental album. But Cristina’s voice is so powerful that I’m glad it’s not. And the sound, production-wise, is just stunning, and the tag that the band uses to describe the music itself is perfect: dreamful black metal.
The album reminds me of Emperor, musically, with some Opeth-like beautiful passages that drop in to hard sections that would make Satan himself smile with glee. And although Cristina sounds completely different, she uses her voice in a way that reminds me of I from Morgul. And concidering I is one of my favorite black metal vocalists, I’m aiming that to be a compliment.
This is the perfect album for symphonic black metal fans that want to relax a bit. It’s something to kick your feet up to, go for a long drive to; it’s one of those kinds of albums. And despite being only six songs, it’s still as longs as many albums with twice that many songs.
In short, I fucking love Streben. 10 out of 10.

Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Candlelight Records

This is one of the coolest sounding albums I’ve heard in awhile. It’s got everything here, and it’s just so damn good. A little bit of death metal riffing, some black metal, a touch of electronics, tons of progressive influence, and some classic pure metal. Finishing his “A” trilogy with After, Ihsahn is not pulling any punches. It’s a classic and it’s only a week old as I write this.
Ihsahn’s voice, despite the great music, is the true star of this album. He’s got such amazing strength and power in his vocal delivery, whether it be the deep blackened style in “Undercurrent” or the sorrowful, plaintive delivery in the same song. He honestly kind of reminds me of Mikael Åkerfeldt at times, while still keeping his own sound.
Saxophone and eight string guitars bring another level of depth and heaviness to the album. The drums are awesome, with a nice pop on the snare and deep kicks, the bass rumbles perfect lines that both compliment the song and progress it.
Metalheads, listen up. Get this album. It’s not Emperor, it’s not Thou Shalt Suffer, it’s not Peccatum, and it’s not Zyklon-B. It’s all of them. And none of them. It’s wonderful and amazing.
10 out of 10.