Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Power A Cappella
Label: Napalm Records

I was a little more than excited when I saw that there was a download link waiting in my Inbox from Napalm Records. Why? Because I had heard earlier that day that I should be receiving the (then) upcoming album from the world’s greatest a capella  metal group, Van fucking Canto!

My initial thoughts on the album based entirely on the promo info, before I actually listened to it (past the deafening “SQEEEEEEE” sight reaction) were as follows:

- Did I accidentally download a Dragonforce album? The cover says “yes”.
-  Could they of chosen a more generic album title?
-  A cover of Sabaton’s Primo Victoria featuring guest vocals by wildman Joakim Broden? Too much!!!

And now, after listening to it for a couple of weeks straight:

After getting over a bit of a sour patch with this album (since I wasn’t instantly enthralled with Break The Silence like I was with Tribe Of Force, fear that all of those “poser metal/gimmick metal insults were true) I had come to find that it is in fact a robust album, full of catchy melodies and a metric ton of fun! Album opener If I Die In Battle sounds like it could be yet another tribute to Manowar… which it isn’t… at least I don’t think it is. Either way, it’s a great way to start things off.

I mentioned a Sabaton cover of Primo Victoria earlier. Yeah. This cover fucking kills! I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it dwarfs the original in terms of awwwwwwesome (no disrespect to Sabaton at all since the song wouldn’t exist without them). After that, Black Wings Of Hate is a beautifully track where Inga takes the lead and just owns it all.

I noticed that in a lot of the reviews about Van Canto feature either no mention of the rakkatakka or they bash the guys who belt this shit out. I think these guys rule! How many of us can honestly do what they do? Honestly, I think they have a much harder job than anybody else in the band (especially Ingo! Up to about five minutes of DOOMDOOMDOOM would destroy a lesser man!) Also mysteriously missing from the spotlight in other reviews, drummer Bastian Emig. The man is a machine and nobody seems to care! Well, I for one salute this (probably) mechanized percussionist for his energy throughout the album and albums past!

Overall: I wasn’t nearly as initially impressed as I was with Tribe Of Force. But after a couple of listens, I found that they are equal in quality. Break The Silence is an excellent album from a band that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves in the metal community. Hopefully this review will change a few minds and bring a few more fans their way. They deserve it all.

8.5/10

Van Canto On Facebook

Genre: Black Metal, Folk Metal
Label: Independent

Old Corpse Road struck an immediate chord with me and my small town past. I lived in Molalla for a while (a tiny, bumfuck town that’s populated by hicks and inbred Christians) and had an experience that parallels one of the yarns on The Echoes Of Tales Once Told. There was a long and overgrown road that you had to pass through to get to the main part of town for where I was staying (miles away… fucking sucked) that was chock full of scary stories and urban legends (and discarded condoms and needles). It lead past the old and mostly forgotten cemetery, which was equidistant from the town and the housing settlement. The path I traveled was actually two paths combined; one from town to the cemetery and the other from the cemetery to the settlement. This creep-tastic path was refered to as “The 420 Trail” by the “cool” high schoolers… but some of the old timers called it, you guessed it, The Old Corpse Road!

Ok, enough of that! Onto the review!

The U.K. five some known as Old Corpse Road, bring a wee bit of superstition to the table with their blackened offering of an EP,  The Echoes Of Tales Once Told. Immediately, the listener is pulled in and thrashed about by the torrent of intense melodies and tortured vocals! Also brought into the terrifying turbulence of it all is the addition of a violin, which is uses sparingly and thus, masterfully! Lyrically, OCR dives into their homeland’s darker history to find inspiration (take the little Oakmen for example).  As far as musical influences go; Primordial and Emperor… Nuff said!

This EP is only three tracks long… and I’m actually ok with that. Sometimes, all you need is three tracks of PERFECT black metal to be satisfied, you know?

Overall: This album is easily some of the most inventive and intelligent metal I’ve ever heard. The Echoes Of Tales Once Told pulls you in with old world lore and encapsulates you with the vicious black metal that culminates in the feeling dread, produced by ghost from worlds almost forgotten! EP stands for EPIC!!!

10/10

Old Corpse Road On MySpace

Also Posted On E-MetalSpace

Genres: Doom, Viking Metal, Folk Metal
Label: Napalm Records

Napalm Records refers to Ereb Altor as “Epic Viking Doom”. And while The End is definitely that, I think that Napalm was a little too on the nose with that description. I like to think of this album as more; Nightfall Battlefield Campfire Tales of Tragedy and Bloodshed, Doom… which is a little up the nose, isn’t it?

At any rate, Ereb Altor (which consists of Mats and Ragnar of the awesome Swedish doom troupe, Isole) goes heavy on the Viking lore (hence the tag, I would suppose) with the retelling of the death of Balder and Loki’s treachery afterward and so on. Vocally, The End is littered with haunting clean vocals, spoken word segments, berzerker bellows and his victim’s screams. The guitars range from a doom dirge to acoustic to the occasional blackened shred, while the drummers never really shy away from a mid-tempo, keeping this flaming boat of a precession on it’s steady course to Valhalla!

Overall: Mixing Viking themes with funeral doom and an impalement of black metal, Ereb Altor carve out a deep niche in the already crowded folk/Viking genre with their unabashed dedication and thought provoking sound.

8.5/10

Ereb Altor on MySpace

Originally seen on E-MetalSpace