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.

Genre: Shoegaze
Label: Hydra Head Records

I grabbed Jesu’s Silver E.P. on a whim one day. I’ve heard tons of great things about the band, and Justin Broadrick in general, and the CD was a 2 for $30 at HMV, so I grabbed it. And wow, I’m so glad I did, and so is my wife.
The album reminds us of My Bloody Valentine, which is a very good thing, as both of us are huge fans of MBV. I thought it would have been a much harder listen, but apparently the two albums that came before this one were, with Broadrick taking a more poppy approach this time.
The songs have a simplistic bass riff, with swirling guitars that are distorted and heavy, but the true weight comes from Justin’s voice. He’s a great singer, and he really knows how to use what he has for maximum effect. The lengths of the songs themselves are all six and a half minutes or longer, with “Wolves” at 8:27, but like good, well written longer songs, they don’t feel overwhelming or begin to drag on.
I’d recommend this gorgeous E.P. for fans of Broadrick’s other work (Godflesh, Final, Napalm Death), shoegaze fans, and fans of Pelican, Isis, Cult of Luna, etc., as well as fans of Nine Inch Nail’s The Fragile album. There are definitely elements inside of the song “Wolves” that remind me strongly of The Fragile.
9.5 out of 10.

Jesu Official Site