Funeral Rain Press Corps

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.

Genres: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock
Label: Nightmare Records

Seeming to take a page from Canada’s Scratching Post, Clandestine are playing a type of music that is full of melodies with a powerful female vocalist. The music itself ranges from Scratching Post-esq hard rock to early Deftones nü-ness, with some more progressive passages akin to Tool during the Lateralus era.
Pretty good stuff, if you ask me.
Favorite tracks are “Disappear in You”, “Philistine”, and “Dead to the World”, with “Phantom Pain” definitely recommended.
8 out of 10.

Clandestine on MySpace.

Genre: Progressive Rock, Hard Rock
Label: SG Records

Another review in which I get excited before I even heard the album in question. I reviewed Mr. Mihaljevic 2008 release, Sandcastle a while back and I’m not ashamed to say that it’s still in my monthly rotation of progressive rock.  So yeah, I’m stoked to have Destination Unknown spinning in front of me.

A noticeable change from Sandcastle (aside from the addition of back up band, the Side Effects) is the production value. Everything was given an uber glossy coat and amped up to eleven. Ivan’s combination of shredding, lickin’ and mad soloing is still as deadly as ever with a bit of a Zakk Wylde (as a Derek Sherinian contributor) feel to some songs like Choosh Pies and Dreascapes. His voice is another matter altogether. In Sandcastle, it was serviceable at best. But here in Destination Unknown, it’s obvious that he’s has some time to tune up more than his riffing. He’s got more of a broader range in his high notes and bit more variation all around. This pleases me greatly.

Unfortunatly, there are some “side effects”. While there is a bit of variation with some of the songs having long instrumental breaks (something I admired from Sandcastle), other songs seem a little to… melodramatic for me. Like the song Post-Apocalyptic Images for example. I understand the need for mood setting and whatnot, but this one just came off as whiny and it broke the flow that the album was building. Same goes for Shadows two tracks later. It just feels misplaced.

Overall: I’d say that this is another win for Ivan Mihaljevic! If you consider yourself a fan of progressive rock or just plain hard rock, I suggest you give him a listen. You won’t be disappointed!

8.5/10

Ivan Mihaljevic On MySpace
Ivan Mihaljevic Offical

Genres: Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock
Label: Independent

I found an email from Thesis in my inbox, asking if I could do a review of their new body of work, Channel 1. They described themselves as a progressive rock with metallic leanings, so I said sure. I’d be happy to.
And if only I knew what I was getting into.
Thesis don’t fall into an easy to define area of music, because they are very progressive, with some psychedelic elements. Amazing musicianship, with an extremely strong voice, Thesis remind me of a slower, more melodic and pretty sounding Tool or Cynic. At times even reminding me of Opeth.
Violins, heavy riffs, and an occasionally oppressive feeling fill this album, and it’s great. Check it out if you’re into progressive music.
8 out of 10.

Thesis on MySpace.

Genre: Hard Rock, Progressive Rock
Label: Dynamic Art Records

I’m not going to lie here… this album was difficult to review/listen too. The songs on Babies Of Revolution are either one of two things: Either 1) Genius or 2) Complete Crap. Seriously, this album probably holds the strangest state of perfect homeostatic symmetry between auditory gold and musical horse shit! Tracks like Panda Girl, Wash My Sins Away and End Of The World are fountains of joy, containing catchy licks, fun vocals and intricate synths. But on the flip side, tracks like Fake, Cherry Pit and Sweet Revenge are rife with junkyard leavings. The vocals sound… off, like during the recording of those tracks, the vocalist had a huge lump of phlegm in her throat and never bothered to hack it out or something. Even the synths sound lacking (which sucks since those are my favorite part of this album), as if the keyboard itself knows that this album has potential, but it’s already been doused in other areas. “So fuck it,” it thinks.

Overall: A mixed bag of entertaining neo-gothic, The Gathering-esque rock/metal and “what the hell were you thinking” garbage. Luckily, it still manages to be entertaining in a couple of ways.

6/10

Manzana On MySpace