Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Death Metal, Progressive Grindcore
Label: Relapse Records

FTF have been a favorite of mine for a long time, as readers of this site may well know. When I was given the opportunity to download and review the new album from the PR company, I was stoked. So yeah, I downloaded the promo, listened to it a couple times, and loved it. But never had the actual time to get my thoughts on it down. Then last night I was in HMV and ended up grabbing a copy of the album. So now that I have the physical version I’m making the time to review it properly.

This is definitely one of the strangest FTF albums so far. It has the grinding of previous albums Stigmata High Five and Disgorge Mexico, but it blends in more of the death metal influence that was very obvious on the Unnamed 7″. Absent are the slower, pretty parts that hearken back to 80′s thrash (especially Metallica) that were featured on Disgorge Mexico. The songs seem longer too, and in continuing with FTF traditions, there is a long song that is almost seven-and-a-half minutes long (“Census Blank”). This song also has a guy doing vocals on it, but due to the awesome amounts of liner notes for the album I have no idea who is doing them. Probably one of the guys in the band.

The second-longest song brings in another FTF tradition, a song in French! “95″ is the tune, and it’s a really fast, angry sounding track that makes me want to mosh like crazy, especially during the guitar solo. This one is a good example of the strangeness of the album too: it’s got a slower riff that really strikes me as a Black Sabbath worship riff. Totally doomy with a touch of psychrock going on.

These little sections are peppered all over the album, riffs that just are not typical grindcore or death metal, but bringing in other genres that influence the men and lady of FTF. And the way that they work with the more typical Fuck the Facts sound is amazing!

In the end, Die Miserable is a sweet album, and definitely should be looked at for those that are into Pig Destroyer, Buried Inside, Gigan, Napalm Death, and Nasum.

8.5 out of 10.

Fuck the Facts on Facebook.

Genre: Grindcore
Label: Give Praise Records

Jesus tap dancing Christ. This is some insane, brutal grind that just won’t let up. I love it.

The longest song clocks in at just 1:35. The riffs are fast, catchy, thrashy, and full of alcohol, with some sick sounding vocals, including some that sound like a puking frog. This isn’t my usual grind, but I’ve been listening to this pretty much non-stop for three spins alone today, plus another twelve in the past couple weeks too, so needless to say this is something I’m coming to love.

Also, bonus points for being exactly what my wife hates about metal. Want to scare your non-metalhead spouse away? Toss this little platter o’ wax on the turntable. Of course, finding it might be hard. I think it’s sold out.

8 out of 10.

Beer Corpse on MySpace.

Genres: Black Metal, Grindcore, Progressive Metal
Label: Candlelight Records

Get your boots on kids. We’re definitely stepping out of the comfort zone here, right into some seriously deep what the fuck?
As usual, these two Brits love to push the envelope, and there’s some pretty huge pushes with Passion. They’ve taken their black metal, made it blacker. Taken their grind, made it grinder. And the progressiveness of the album is just all over the place. Some of my favorite clean vocal performances are on this CD, with some amazing riffs that really amp up the general urgency of this music.
Wait. Urgency? In black metal? What? Yes, son. Shit just got real. If you’ve never listened to Anaal Nathrakh before, and your like your black metal TRVE and KVLT, and as boneheadedly barbaric as possible, continue not listening to Anaal Nathrakh. Because your BM world just got another album deeper into thinking man’s territory.
8 out of 10.

Anaal Nathrakh on Facebook.

Genre: Brutal Death Metal, Grindcore

Label: Earache Records

Based on the name (one of the most badass weapons in first person shooter history), I’m guessing that Brain Drill broke up (again), reformed and sort of renamed themselves.

:: Actually listens to Maniacal Miscreation:: Ok, so it’s DEFINITELY not Brain Drill, thank the maker. Cerebral Bore has been kicking around the U.K. for about six years, releasing two demos and a single, shredding riffs and faces while busting heads and grooves wherever they may roam. But finally, someone took notice and signed these brutal death metalers. And now, we have Maniacal Miscreation! Eight tracks of broken glass, gasoline and razorwire! A glowing review MUST be imminent…

But first, this gripe:

Man, these are some pretty average vocals. I mean, they’re almost so run-of-the-mill that it becomes painful. You know the kind I’m going on about, don’t you: growl, squeal, grunt, repeat… wait, what? IT’S A CHICK? Well that changes… absolutely nothing! (That’s equality for you.) What they are is what they are and that’s all there is to it. A set of ovaries isn’t going to change that.

Now that that little piece of FUCK YOU to the promo writers is complete, we can carry on to the meat of this album: everything else! I know that the word “brutal” is thrown around a ton nowadays. But my friends, believe me when I say that this band completely replaces Webster’s Dictionary’s definition of the word! Fuck! The word altogether is now useless! Brutal Death Metal shall now be known as Cerebral Bore Death Metal. Now, when someone gets a savage pummeling you must say that they were, “Cerebral Borely beaten”. In Mortal Kombat 3, now you must enter a code to finish your opponent with a Cerebral Boreality. Etc…

Stepping back and taking a listen to the instrumentation is almost destructive since everything blends together to make this firestorm of an album come together so seamlessly. But if I must, then I must. The riffs in this album are concussive! Every chord is a broken rib, played, mended and then re-broke! Bass-wise, I have to say that I stoaked to even hear the fucking thing, let alone be astounded that a fast played death metal bass can sound so damn great! The drums are technical, violent and far too fast for anyone who may want to emulate them later. They’re probably my favorite ANYTHING attached to this album.

Overall: Yes, yes. The vocals are serviceable. But the rest of the band is what you want to focus on here. It’s polished to a blinding shine, technical grind for those of you who like newer Napalm Death, The Berzerker and the first Whitechapel album.

8/10

Cerebral Bore On Facebook

Genre: Grindcore

Label: Deepsend Records

Some of you may remember that I saw these guys a few months back and was completely blown away by their energy and ferocity. Well, got great news for anybody who was wondering if anything on their album, Our Ashes Built Mountians was lost in the transition from recorded file to live performance. The answer: Absolutely NOTHING was lost!

Vocalist Blake Simpson breath projectile vomits fireballs half of the time, while the other half he’s spewing shards of razor sharp ice sickles! I honestly would have been left wondering how much of this was enhanced by the studio and how much was actual talent if I didn’t hear it for myself in person.

And as far as the grindtars are concerned, fo’get about it! There’s an actual melody in there! You can hear it plain as day! Can you believe this shit? Actual skill is required to play these songs! It’s not just a punkish riffs that are tossed out willy-nilly with reckless abandon! Actual thought was put into the composition of these songs and it fucking shows!

Now, there are obvious comparisons to be made to Total Fucking Destruction, Squash Bowels and maybe even to a lesser extent, Pathology when it comes to the face melting speed, overall chaotic vibe (almost to the point of cacophony if they were a lesser band) and general style. But Beyond Terror Beyond Grace manages to keep this nineteen track grindcore album from getting stale by changing up various aspect of their style. Such as: vocal variation, pace shifting between songs (instead of within the song, over and fucking over again), having melodic riffs that are excellently blended within rapid fire grind riffs, etc…  It’s like a hectic game of musical (chairs) tracks by way of Russian Roulette. Yeah, it’s that intense and that fucking rad!

Overall: Beyond Terror Beyond Grace goes beyond anything that anyone that’s a fan of the genre could ever of expected! This is most definitely a band to keep an eye on!

10/10

Beyond Terror Beyond Grace Official

Beyond Terror Beyond Grace On Facebook