Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Doom, Sludge
Label: Anthropic Records

One of my favorite labels has sent me a shiny new record! And it’s on transparent green vinyl! And it’s a fucking MONSTER of a record too!

Needless to say, I was pretty stoked to give this a spin, even on my asshole of a record player that doesn’t seem to want to send sound to the speakers properly. And for some reason, maybe because it understood the awesomeness of the vinyl, the speakers were sounding great. Thank you record player. Thank you.

Now, on to the review!

Side A is Philly’s Sadgiqacea, facestomping their way through two tracks (“The Great Divide”, “Avianizer”). Doom as doom can doom, these guys are so fucking awesome. I thought their older tracks on Bandcamp were great, but these two songs throw those into the mud. If you’re into stuff like Five Will Die, Black Tusk, Fight Amp, Bison B.C., and the Side B band Grass, you should check these guys out. If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I mention those bands, think of an angry Black Sabbath with Henry Rollins getting punched in the face by Justin Broadrick as the vocalist. 10 out of 10.

Side B is another Philly doom as fuck band, who continue to kick the shit out of their listeners and amps after Sadgiqacea leave off, who they also follow in the same vein musically. I feel sorry for stages and moshers that these guys play for, because if this is indicative of all their stuff (my first time hearing Grass), they destroy shit. Bleeding ears, noses, and knuckles all around. 10 out of 10.

Math should be obvious here. 10 out of 10.

Sadgiqacea on Facebook.
Grass on Facebook.

Black Tusk – Sludge, Doom
This side consists of only one song, called “Fatal Kiss”, and it’s a heavy-ass track full of angst and anger. Too bad something is wrong with my record, the needle gets stuck in one messed up groove, so I have to fuck around to hear it. Either way, it’s a great track, and now that these guys are releasing a full-length with Relapse, I’m happy.
FYI, these guys are from the same Savannah, Georgia scene as Baroness, and I’d recommend them to fans of similar bands.
7.5 out of 10.

Fight Amp – Sludge, Punk
A pair of songs from Fight Amp, similar in style in some ways to Black Tusk but with a bit more of a punk feel and attitude to them, but again something is wrong with this side of the record. Stuck in a groove.
In the end though, after a little bit of fucking around, I’m finished with Fight Amp’s side. And I like it.
7 out of 10.

With art from Baroness’ John Dyer Baizley, Brutal Panda Records has put out a pretty strong split between two bands that are different enough that they should be able to appeal to different fans, but similar enough that the record should also cross-pollinate fans.
I don’t know if it’s indicative of the entire run or not, but my record being messed up is dropping the final score on the split a little.
7 out of 10.

Brutal Panda Records.
Black Tusk on MySpace.
Fight Amp on MySpace.