Funeral Rain Press Corps

Posted on the Five Will Die Facebook page:

“Sincere thank you to Richie Donovan for a year and a half of dedication to Five Will Die. Unfortunately other commitments have taken precedence in Richies life, and its with great sadness that we amicably go our separate ways…We wish him luck in his future plans, farewell Uncle Richie ;)
This opens up the position of guitarist in Five Will Die. A high level of guitar skill and professional attitude is essential. This is a very time consuming position, and demands a huge amount of commitment. Extensive live experience desirable. No age/sex barrier, you can download and listen to songs on Soundcloud for reference for free.
Interested parties please contact us at fivewilldie@yahoo.com
Remaining shows we have booked will be played as a four piece, starting with Dublin next weekend.”

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.

Genre: Doom, Sludge
Label: Independent

FIVEWILLDIE (Five Will Die, FWD, 5WD) have been one of my favorite bands ever since Funeral Rain Zine was a shitty hole on MySpace. These Irish lads were one of the first bands I hooked up with and ever since then I’ve been wanting to hear more from them. And now I have. And wow.

Worth & Soul is a killer doom album, perfect for fans of faster, angrier doom. Elements of death metal and hardcore are all over the place, with slow breakdowns and beatdowns. If you’re expecting a Katatonia or My Dying Bride here, you’re looking in the wrong direction. Instead what you’ll get is a face full of fists. Tracks take an anti-Christian bend as well, in a more atheistic way, and some spots (especially in “Seeds”) are even reminiscent of Tool.

The album itself starts with “Wrecks of Men”, which features Andy’s roar right from the start, going straight for the eyes. The riffage is slow, deep and solid. Perfect for headbanging while pounding your fist on the patch-laden vest of the bloke in front of you in the pit. The general feel really doesn’t change, but “Nothing Against Your Conscience” does slow it down even further for a time to get you ready for the next assault. “Sons of Horus” is just fucking vicious, viscous doom, and “Great Minds and Fools” keeps it up. “Blood and Soil” is one of those songs that I can see getting covered by other bands. It’s slower than your grandmother driving and just as scary. “Blame the Martyr” takes on a more classic doom feel at the start, then brings in that FWD flavor with tons of crunchy broken noses; one of the best tracks on the album. “Seeds” takes the same route, with a clean guitar at the start and some asskicking through the rest, with a slow and clean spot in the middle to breathe for a moment. The pit stays slow again for the final track, the title track “Worth & Soul”, a time to wipe the blood and sweat from your face and finish off another pair of beers before heading into the night.

So needless to say, FIVEWILLDIE have outdone themselves. Worth & Soul is by far their best work, and hopefully indicative of where they will be headed in the future. A fucking masterpiece, I’ll be spinning this shit for years to come.
10 out of 10.

03 Sons Of Horus by Five Will Die

FIVEWILLDIE on Facebook.

Interview with Dave from Brigantia, an Irish Doom band. One that slays. I found out about them through Five Will Die, and loved ‘em ever since. This interview here is ancient, a time machine entry from Funeral Rain Zine’s first forays on MySpace. It’s lovingly reprinted here, with no modifications at all. Enjoy.

What is Brigantia? Who are you, where are you, and what is that racket coming out of my speakers? Also, where did you get the name Brigantia from?

Brigantia are three grumpy old men, unified by a love of doom and weed. Years of listening to all kinds of metal has inspired us to try something of our own. We are paying tribute to the scene that spawned us by believing in the power of the riff and trying to channel the honesty that the old Gods brought to the fore.
The name Brigantia comes from the Celtic high Goddess of the same name, the Christians then proceeded to steal her for their own fabricated saint!

There are several other doom bands in your area. How is it that several bands in the area can have the same genre, but all have different sounds?

Aye, there are more and more doom bands in this country at the moment, the more the merrier I say, I personally cant see any factors that could be attributed to the bands sounding different to each other though, a lot of the guys I know have said that they intended to start as straight doom metal but ended up taking many other influences on board. I love to see what a varied scene we have here at the moment and long may it continue.

When you’re making new music, how does the process usually go?

Slowly.. Ha ha! It usually starts with me coming up with a riff and a bridge, we take it to the practice room, jam the fuck out of it then one of us will add a little extra like a key change or vocal hook, we like songs that will stick in your head without playing a riff over and over a fucking hundred times!

What bands inspire you to create? Is there anything you listen to that would surprise fans?

Pentagram, Black Sabbath, Cathedral, Celtic Frost, MDB, Anathema, Reverend Bizarre, Candlemass, e.t.c. No surprises.

How about non-musical inspiration?

My other passion is for horror movies (ultimate cliché for a doom band!) I fucking love horror…right from the silent era onward.
Most of the lyrical inspiration comes from horror, the stagnant fear of “Death line”, the decadent thrills of “the masque of the red death” or the simple brutality of a film like “Maniac” Doom metal and horror have been linked ever since Sabbath took their name from Mario Bava’s 1963 movie of the same name.

You’ve been playing tons of shows of late, judging from all the show posters I’ve been seeing online. Any paricular memorable shows recently?

Yeah we like to keep the ball rolling! This year’s gigs have all been great but getting to play with Gates of Slumber was a definite highlight for us! We were the second band on the bill that night, played a good show too. All the bands really stepped up to the plate on the night and made it one of those magical nights! Pints were drank, heads were banged, fist’s were raised….Magic!

Who have you been playing with? Any bands out there that you’d like to do shows with?

Five will die, On pain of death, Castero, Shadowmarch, Haietta, Engines of ruin, Crowning glory, Gates of slumber, Procession, Two tales of woe, This weary hour, Thurisaz are a few I can think of this year. We are looking forward to a couple of gigs after the summer with our Italian comrades Misty Morning.. There’s a band called The wounded kings from England that we would love to cross axes with too..
If I was going to be unrealistic I would say check the answer to question 4 for the list!!

What kind of long-term touring plans does Brigantia have? Any European shows? How about polluting Canadian and American soil?

No plans man but we would jump at any chance to gig overseas, be it England, Europe, Canada, the states…to get the opportunity would be savage! At the moment though we are in the process of recording our second demo “Nostradoomus” we have a tune from this on our myspace page entitled “Time machine of doom”

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Some “last words”, so to speak?

Thanks for the interview and best of luck with the zine and label.
To anyone reading this, check out our myspace, listen to the tunes and make sure to say hello!
In doom……………

Genres: Blackened Death Metal, Doom
Label: Ossuary Industries, Serpents of Eden

These Texas boys sure do know how to put together a fucking wicked album. It’s got a brutal groove that death metal has to offer, with a fairly blackened veneer over top, and doomy influences to help drag you down into a pit of pessimism.
Mike Swearingen’s voice is fucking intense, a very deep growl that’s  intelligible and doomy, reminding me sometimes of Howard from Five Will Die.  Also, his acoustic guitar work is gorgeous.
Dobber Beverly and James O’Reilly are the backbone, the drummer and bassist respectively. Their interplay is really sweet, especially when Dobber starts playing faster parts while James slows down. These two seem to definitely have a great chemistry together. Dobber is also the synth player, and his work on the keys seem to add a slightly gothic touch to the songs, bringing Draconian to mind, among other bands.
Jeff Cottrell’s guitars are deadly. Riffs that, depending on the song, remind me of Divine Empire and Morbid Angel or The 11th Hour and Moss come out of the speakers to attack and make you pay attention. And raise a beer in a toast while you headbang, of course.
My favorite tracks are “Baphomet’s Throne”, the album’s title track “The Ministers of Lamentation”, and “Ordained Repugnance”.
If I’ve got you interested in getting the album,  but you’ve got no cash, fret not. The guys have released it free of charge as a download from their (very well designed and simple) website.
9 out of 10.

Demoniacal Genuflection’s Official Site.
Demoniacal Genuflection on MySpace.