Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Power, Heavy Metal
Label: Century Media

Would you like to hear something funny? I never cared for Iced Earth. Never. I heard a couple of tracks off of Something Wicked This Way Comes and read a couple of interviews with Jon Schaffer (man, what a DOUCHE!) and that was enough for me. But, here I am. Face-to-face with a review that I promised that I’d do even though I really don’t wanna.

At the end of the title track/album opener, I could tell that I was going to have to write some things that are going to have my friends telling me, “I told you so!” Ugh…

Moving into track two, Anthem, Mr. Schaffer cuts loose and mows me down with some dumbfoundingly catchy (re: awesome) riffs! I’m almost ready to take back everything I’ve ever said about Iced Earth, so let’s hope they keep this awesomeness up…

Another tally in the “Pro” side is when new vocalist Stu Block isn’t trying to sound like Matt Barlow or Tim Owens with the high notes, he barrows from the book of Chuck Billy with an almost hardcore bellow. That’s not counting out his own style of clean vocals either. They aren’t great per se, but they do fit where they appear, like in one of the more somber tracks entitled, Anguish Of Youth. And since I don’t have the handicap of being a rabid fan like most of you freaks, I can honestly say that I dig the combination of vocal styles.

I’ve got to hand it to these guys for putting out an album with ten tracks on it that doesn’t seem to repeat itself. I believe that it’s due in part to Brent Smedley’s drum work. Keeping the beats fresh is a tricky thing when you’re supposed to be support for the vocals and lead guitar, but Brent manages to quietly shine in the background while not pulling focus from what, I’m sure, many believe to be the star attractions.

On the Neg, those catchy riffs that Jonny Boy dishes out early on appear to be the extent of what he was willing to do for this album as after you reach the fifth track, all of his work seems to go flat like week old radiator soda. Even the solos seem hollow and phoned in. And since his ax work is what I hear about constantly, that’s enough to drag down the overall score quite a bit.

Overall: I’m still not going to run out and grab as many Iced Earth albums as I can find, but I’m not going to all out ignore them when I hear them on zee metal radios. I would recommend this album to fans of traditional metal in general, no problem.

8/10

Iced Earth Official
Iced Earth On Facebook 

Genre: Progressive, Groove, Speed, Heavy Metal, Psychedelic

Label: Independent

Must… not… make… anymore… SeaQuest… jokes!

I was introduced to this band through a Battle Of The Bands concert that I attended about a half a year ago. They blew me away with their raw talent and unique approach to progressive metal. Not to mention, they were the only band that night that didn’t even remotely sound like any of the other bands (a big ol’ plus since the rest were mostly Panteracore). Come to find out, the bassist/part-time vocalist Ethan Slayton (that is one METAL name!) is a  counter jockey at my local comic book shop, Things From Another World. After a hour or two long conversation about everything from Venture Brothers to Hawkwind to Identity Crisis, I mentioned that I’d be happy to review any material that The Deep Sea Vents would have floating around out there. Happy to oblige, Ethan led me Into The Deep…

Starting off this four song EP is the song Dead Indian Highway, a song title that I thought I heard them shouting when I was washing the dishes and thought to myself, “Now, that can’t be right?” Sure enough, it was. Into The Deep has a running theme of nautical nightmares and other Lovecraftian/check under your bed related stuff (in case you couldn’t tell by the song titles and whatnot) that fits in very well with their brand of what the fuckery style metal.

The vocals vary in terms of quality. When they’re the straight forward Mastodonic yells, they work a-ok. But when they try to branch off into a more extreme vein, they falter a bit. The guitars on the other hand, do absolutely no fucking wrong! Riff after crushing riff leaps out of those twelve combined strings and deafen the listener with awesome! The same can be said about the bass. These are probably some of the most intricate and ballsy licks that I’ve heard since the last Peter Vink project! Then at last, we come to the kit. Drummer Dakota must smoke a lot of fucking weed! His style is reminiscent of Orange Goblin, Karma To Burn and even a little bit of Six Feet Under, so I digs ‘em! Instrumentally, The Deep Sea Vents have it goin’ on! This EP has about a zillion things running around in every direction, in every dimension. So if you want to run your ears through a (sub)Marine bootcamp that’s 20,000 leagues under the sea, then Into The Deep should be right up your alley!

Overall: The Deep Sea Vents offer up an EP that’s full of innovative riffs, bombastic drumming and shroom inspired lyrics that are guaranteed to make you ask the question, “Who’d win in a knife fight, The Kraken or Sauron from The Savage Land?”

We’re gonna need a bigger boat!

9/10

The Deep Sea Vents On Reverbnation

The Deep Sea Vents On Facebook

Genre: Heavy Metal, Speed Metal

Label: Heavy Artillery Records

NONE of you have any idea how badly I have been wanting for this day to come! I’ve been following these lads since they were Final Awakening (sort of) then Leatherwitch and then finally, Spellcaster. “I can’t wait until the demo comes out.” It did. I reviewed it. “Can’t wait for the EP to launch!” It did. I reviewed it. “Hey guys, when’s the album gonna get here?”

Oh, it’s here…

Under The Spell features re-recordings of all of the songs from the EP Spells Of Speed (minus the live tracks) so there’s an instant metal boner for anyone who missed out on all the glory of Locked-On or Chainsaw Champion. In addition to old favorites, the soon-to-be new crowd favorite, Nite Of The Hellbeast and insta-pit-stigator, Molten Steel and more join the ever grown ranks of completely off the wall classics that Spellcast farts out like three alarm chili!

Thomas Adams still sounds as powerful as ever, especially since they went back and did retakes of when he faltered a wee bit back on the EP. The track, Sands Of Fear is where he gets to kick you in the ass the hardest with his unique brand of vocals. He even dips into some growls from time to time!

Cory and Tyler still have it in spades when it comes to whipping up neck-wreckin’ riffs! I dare you to listen to Molten Steel and NOT try to bang your head and play air-guitar! And let’s talk about the human beer can that is Shad Covert and his ability to expand on a gallop beat until it’s a living, fire breathing entity… shit! Shad actually conjured the goddamned Hellbeast!

Holy fuck! I can hear Gabe playing the shit outta his bass this time around! It sounds glorious and all, but in Power Rising, there’s a few spots were it kind of fluctuates from the background to the foreground in a odd bit of a mixing snafu. No real harm done though. You just REALLY get to hear what he’s made of for a few seconds!

There is one thing I should bring up though. As far as “new” material goes (they’re all technically new since they were all re-recorded) there’s three totally new tracks and an minute, forty-one intro on an eight track album. Some may find this bullshitty, but most of us won’t care to terribly much.

Overall: The spells have been cast, the posers slain and your life has been given meaning! Under The Spell is every bit as mind blowing as you thought it’d be and maybe even a little more! Recommenced for fans of… well, METAL!

9/10

Spellcaster On Reverbnation

Spellcaster On Facebook

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.

Immediately after typing up my review for Benedictum’s Dominion album, I typed up some questions for their guitarist Pete Wells. Here they are, complete with his answers.

To start off, Benedictum is not your first band with Veronica. Could you talk about your first projects and what brought about the forming of Benedictum?

Yes, the 1st project we were involved in was called Medusa. That band was a melodic power metal band. After Medusa, we formed Malady which was more of a melodic metal band. Malaldy was one of the top acts in the San Diego scene but could never quite get over the hump. Malady came to an end and Veronica and I decided to give it one last chance. Malady had shown a lot of promise and had some label interest but didn’t materialize. Veronica was playing part time in a dio tribute band with original Benedictum drummer Blackie Sanchez and keyboardist Chris Morgan. We later added bassist Jessie Wright.

Did you release anything from these other bands?

Nothing on a global level. We did record a CD for Malady but was only released independently.

How long have you been playing guitar? Are you self-taught, or did you get lessons?

I’ve been playing now for about 25 years. I’m mostly self-taught. Playing guitar came naturally for me. I took lessons for about 3 months to figure out what I was doing and get some theory so I could communicate musically.

When did you begin writing your own music?

I started writing my own songs after about 6 months of playing when I joined my 1st band. We played mostly Judas Priest and Scorpions songs and some Crüe hahahhaaaa

What brought you to the allegiance of metal?

My introduction to metal came late. I was given Kiss Alive on LP and was hooked. I started playing guitar after seeing Randy Rhoads on the Diary of a Mad Man tour. I came home from the show and the next day I talked my mom into buying me a guitar.

Are there any other genres of music you’re into? How about genres of metal, any in particular that you’re a follower of?

I like all kinds of different genres. Anything from country to classical. If it’s good and sparks something with me I’ll listen. I love 80’s and 90’s thrash and bands that are heavy and progressive like Symphony X.

What are you finding to be the most difficult part of the music industry?

I would say the business side of things. It’s hard to know who to trust, and who’s really behind you.

How about the easiest?

The easiest for me is the song writing. I love the creative process

And what is the most rewarding part for you?

The most rewarding is a toss up, hahahaaa. I love hearing the final results of the writing process when you get to sit down and listen to how the new songs came out. But performing live and touring is my favorite and most rewarding aspect of being in a band.

What kind of guitars are you using, and through what pedals and amps? Is there any kind of particular pedal-to-pedal set-up you’re using that you’re finding is the best way to get your tone? Or is your tone in your amps?

For my live setup I use my Wullfson custom shop star body shape guitars through a 1st generation line 6 flextone head that has an artist endorsers chip that head is amazing I recorded all of the solos on the new CD with that amp. For a pedal, I use the boss ME-50. In the studio it’s a toss -up. For each song we would go through all the amps to see which amp sounded the best in the track and the style of the song. We used a mesa mark 3 c, a mesa modified tremo-verb head and an old blackface dual rec head. I believe I get my sounds more from the way I play than anything. Also the way I use reverb and delay.

Do you plan on doing any extensive North American touring for Dominion, or are you going to keep it in the US for now?

To be honest were not limiting us to just 1 region. We would love to play in Canada this year or early next as well as Mexico central America and south America. Our management and booking agents are working hard to put some things together for us that make sense.

And finally, thank you for being willing to subject yourself to my questions Pete. Is there anything else you’d like to add to this?

Yes, please support your favorite bands by buying their CD’s. it cost money for the artists and record companies to make music. The illegal downloading or copying of your favorite bands music is only going to hurt you the listener as it may become impossible for those bands to continue making music. So please support your favorite band and buy a copy of their CD. Thanks for this opportunity to chat. Horns UP High!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!