Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Format: Digital Promo (Napalm Records)

After several issues of a couple magazines (most notably Terrorizer) were talking about this female-fronted ‘true’ metal band (and after seeing their singer in next to nothing, honestly) I needed to hear them. And so it came to pass that I got to get my hands on a digital promo of Spell Eater.
I’ve given the album a couple listens now, and I’m quite impressed. Female-fronted bands of late have been leaving me with a listless feeling, like they are just trying too hard, and falling short of their goals; and when I found out that Napalm was taking care of Huntress I was honestly a little bit worried that they may be getting overshadowed by the label’s other, more well-known female-fronted bands. But no, this troupe is definitely not going to get lost in the label, nor do I feel listless after listening. Quite the opposite, in fact!
Think King Diamond if King Diamond was a hot blonde with an affinity for Siouxie Sioux, and you’re getting into the right territory. Musically the band brings to mind Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and even some newer Opeth. And well, King Diamond. Galloping guitar and bass, soaring vocals, growls, and spine tingling/finger wrecking solos are brought together to create Spell Eater.
Favorite songs are the lead-off single “Eight of Swords”, which is catchy as hell, “Aradia”, which reminds me a bit of mid-90’s Fear Factory, and “Senicide”, the second track from the album.
In total, I’m definitely loving this album and I’ll be buying it when it comes out.
8.5 out of 10.

Spell Eater Tracklisting:
1. Spell Eater
2. Senecide
3. Sleep and Death
4. Snow Witch
5. Eight of Swords
6. Aradia
7. Night Rape
8. Children
9. Terror
10. The Tower
11. The Dark

Spell Eater Personnel:
Eric Harris: Bass
Carl Wierzbicky: Drums
Blake Meahl: Lead Guitars
Ian Alden: Rhythm Guitars
Jill Janus: Vocals

Band Continues Work On Forthcoming Album

Fear Factory today confirm Matt DeVries as the band’s new bass player. DeVries, previously of Chimaira and most recently Six Feet Under, joins the band replacing Byron Stroud. The announcement comes as the band continues work on their upcoming new album, planned for release early Summer. The album is currently being mixed in Canada by Greg Reely while artwork for the album’s packaging is nearly complete.

DeVries comments: “I have been asked by Dino and Burton to join one of my favorite bands. I have been a fan of
Fear Factory since 1992 and I could not be more excited to be part of this incredible band. We have shared the stage many times together and now I’m beyond stoked to be on the same stage playing together. Thank you to all my fans worldwide for sticking by me and I will be seeing you all on the road very soon.”

Guitarist Dino Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell note: “We are very excited to have Matt playing bass for Fear Factory. We feel he is a great addition to our touring lineup. He has been a friend for a very long time and he’s a great musician who will be a perfect instrument in the FF machine.”

Fear Factory’s new album will follow 2010’s highly regarded Mechanize. Said Blabbermouth of the record, “this is the album fans have been waiting for…a fiery and evolved rebirth of the band that changed metal in the ‘90s.” Revolver Magazine called Mechanize, “one of the best albums of the band’s career. Its combination of new-wave melody, rapid-fire aggression, and electronic ambiance sounds as fresh today as Fear Factory did nearly 20 years ago. Call it the soul of their new machine,” while Decibel Magazine added, “Fear Factory are back and beyond intact.”

Specific details with regards to Fear Factory’s new album are expected to be released in the coming week.

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.

Record Marks Band’s First Full-length With Original Lineup In Over 25 Years

With a reputation forged in fire, brimstone and magic, Killing Joke have long been one of rock’s most iconic and influential outfits. Now, 30 years since first bonding in blood, the original lineup of Jaz Coleman (vocals), Geordie (guitar), Youth (bass) and Paul Ferguson (drums) are set to release their 13th studio album – the first fruits of a new worldwide deal with Spinefarm Records.

Set for release on November 16, 2010, Absolute Dissent found the aforementioned musicians sharing studio space for the first time in 27 years. The 12-track offering was engineered and mixed by Clive Goddard, and produced by the band. It will be released on various formats including CD, two-colored vinyl and a two-CD deluxe edition entitled Absolute Respect featuring a bonus disc with Killing Joke songs covered by Metallica, Amen, Helmet, Econoline Crush, Dead by April, Nine Inch Nails, The Mad Capsule Markets, Nouvelle Vague, Fear Factory, Foo Fighters and Kotiteollisuus.

Formed in London, England, in October 1978, Killing Joke was the brainchild of classically trained musician and vocalist Jeremy “Jaz” Coleman and drummer “Big” Paul Ferguson, who eagerly recruited two like-minded comrades in the form of guitarist Kevin “Geordie” Walker and bassist Martin “Youth” Glover and set about establishing a brand new and highly idiosyncratic manifesto for reinventing the rock ‘n’ roll wheel. Coming to life during what would become known as the “post-punk” era, Killing Joke were never willing to conform to the artistic restrictions of any particular scene or genre. Instead, they took a vast and bewildering array of influences and experience, and combined them to create something entirely unique and utterly timely that still stands up today.

Over the years, the band members have chosen to develop their talents in a variety of ways: Triple Grammy winner Jaz Coleman, for instance, has established an international reputation working with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras, while Martin “Youth” Glover has become one of the UK’s most celebrated producers, supervising albums from The Verve and Primal Scream among many others, as well as achieving major success as one half of highly-regarded duo, The Orb.

Covered by Metallica, Foo Fighters and so many others, Killing Joke’s apocalyptic post punk/industrial vision continues to draw praise from such high-profile supporters as Jimmy Page and Billy Corgan, and the band’s considerable musical legacy can be heard in the works of Nirvana, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and the like – artists whose rise to fame never saw them cutting ties with the underground/alternative scene.

Once described by Paul Ferguson as “the sound of the earth vomiting,” Killing Joke are now poised to take their music of resistance to a whole new level, both in the studio and on the road. Stay tuned…

Track Listing:
1. Absolute Dissent
2. The Great Cull
3. Fresh Fever From The Skies
4. In Excelsis
5. European Super State
6. This World Hell
7. Endgame
8. The Raven King
9. Honour The Fire
10. Depthcharge
11. Here Comes The Singularity
12. Ghosts Of Ladbroke Grove

When: Friday September 10, 2010
Where: New City Suburbs, Edmonton, Alberta

The day that it was announced that Front Line Assembly were coming to Edmonton I started to salivate. Their first show in North America in like three years or something like that? Shit yeah I’ll be there. Wait, what? They hand-picked local industrial heroes iVardensphere to open for them? SWEET! And with the nice price of $22 per ticket, it was going to be a golden night. Too bad we had to wait for more than a month with our tickets in hand before the show.

Doors were at nine, with DJ Kaine Delay kicking the night off with a sweet set of punk and industrial, warming up the crowd for the asskicking that was to come.

At ten or so (I forgot my camera, which is also my clock) iVardensphere took the stage with some extra help from Booming Tree, a local pair of Taiko drummers, and a conga and djembe drummer as well. Instead of the usual hard industrial feast that we’ve all come to know and love from Scott and Chris, tonight was going to be extra special. A night of tribal, tribal, and a little more tribal was on tap, featuring a setlist that according to Scott was very much indicative of the new album. The classic Scatterface song “Bonedance” was still played, but with having more live percussion added to it, it was even more intense. A ten or fifteen minute jam was also included, which I think is becoming a permanent fixture in the iVardensphere show, at least here on home soil.
Oh, and just cuz I can tell you, I got a shirt.

After iVardensphere left the stage, it was quickly set up for the headliner of the night, Front Line Assembly, who came and quickly went for the throat. At the end of it, I wished there was more, and yet it was everything I expected and beyond. The band, for those that don’t somehow know, are legends in the industrial field, and were the birthing ground of several careers, including Rhys Fulber (Fear Factory producer/keyboards) and Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad). Right now they have members of Vancouver’s cyberpunks Left Spine Down (whom Kaine Delay fronts) rocking out on keys and guitar. And on top of all this, Justin Hagberg from 3 Inches of Blood joined the on-stage insanity to play three (ish) songs from the new FLA album, which he is also featured on!
It was like watching “How To Properly Play Industrial With Metal Overtones And Become Huge Fucking Legends Doing It 101″!
And again, just cuz I can tell you, I got a hoodie and a drum head that’s autographed by FLA, including J Hag.

In all: I went to bed at 2:30 am and was supposed to work at 6. I slept in and was 45 minutes late for work. It was so beyond worth it.