Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Independent

Metal Warriors Part 2, eh? So… what’s it going to be then? It’s not a split since there is only the one group credited. Is it a tribute album? Kinda. Though, I’d call it more of a compilation of cover songs. And Y.O.C. (as in Yalin Ongun Cosgun, after the vocalist) covers quite a bit in this here cover comp! From 80′s thrash (Metallica) to the super shreddy type stuff (Malmsteen) to Paul Dianno era Iron Maiden.

But the question still remains: Is it any good? Read on…

First up on this seven track disc is Flotsam & Jetsam’s Monster… ok, so we’re off to a bad start. But I can’t rightfully blame the guys in Y.O.C. for this craptastic song. Although, they did choose to put it on this compilation… It’s a great cover of a bad song. Walk away taking that one however you want to.

Up next, we’ve got Iron Maiden’s Remember Tomorrow… Now. We’re. Talking! Not only is this a great cover of a great song, it’s a perfect choice to throw listeners into the mood that Y.O.C. was undoubtedly shooting for! I personally would of scrapped Monster and started off with this one.

And now, onto my my favorite song choice on Metal Warriors Part 2: Blitzkrieg! The best part of this cover is the fact that you can tell that they were listening to A Time Of Changes and not Garage Inc. when they decided to cover this.  A cover, well done.

Regrettably, Y.O.C. cover Metallica’s Battery next. I’m fucking tired of hearing this song! The original and all of the other covers (even Van Canto’s cover of this song kills me on some level) will soon be stricken from my iTunes library if this shit keeps up! To be fair, it’s a decent enough cover instrumentally, though the vocalist’s style just doesn’t seem to sync up through most of the song.

Yngwie Malmsteen’s I Am A Viking? InstaWin! Next track!

Yay! I can bitch again thanks to this cover of Axel Rudi Pell’s Eyes Of The Lost! Look, if this is just a vocal cover compilation, then just do songs that feature the vocalist like this. But thus far, we’ve had track after track that require some skill on the guitarist/bassist and drummer’s parts as well. But again, it’s a good cover so… you know?

Finally, we come to a cover of TORANAGA’s Sword Of Damocles. Gotta be honest, I never heard the original before and by the sound of this cover, I won’t be checking it out. It’s thrashy/heavy metal-y, but it still manages to not be near my cup-o-tea. Sorry guys, ya lost me here.

And that’s that! I HATE cover compilations. Even more, I HATE reviewing them. But as far as these things go, this one wasn’t really bad at all. I got bored listening to songs that I already knew and in most cases, heard much better covers of already. But I didn’t roll my eyes or impatiently wait for the track to finish nearly as often as I normally do.

Overall: If you can’t get enough cover songs, you’ll probably dig this seven track compilation. But if you’re like the rest of us, it’ll wear you down pretty damned quick.

7.5/10

Y.O.C. On MySpace

Genre: Power Metal
Label: Independent

Few things put a wider smile on my face than receiving a package in the mail that contains pure, unadulterated power metal! I guess that the guys in Dawn Of Valor knew that I was feeling a little down a few days ago since they sent me an EP containing three solid track of just that! And guess what? I’m all fucking smiles once again!

I dug Dawn Of Valor’s self titled 2010 demo enough to give it an 8/10 rating. Upon listening to it again after listening to Immortal Flame, I’ve noticed that all of the improvement that the band made where due in part to a line-up change. Now, this is kind of shocking to me since I’m a guy who doesn’t like changes being applied to things I enjoy (which is one of the reasons why it took me so long to watch David Tennant’s run on Doctor Who after Christopher Eccleston was the lead. I’m so glad I did though! Same with Matt Smith… this tangent went on longer than it should of…).

When I heard that they switched out vocalists, I was more than bummed since I really liked Sean Iredale’s vocal style… but that lasted all of two seconds after Jaden Adair kicked in with some pretty badass power vocals! Similar cheers can be made for Joe Waller’s frantic drumming and Andrew Johnson’s axemanship. And after all was said and done, I consider the roster update a resounding success!

I don”t normally single out songs and praise/bitch about them in my reviews (I’ve been told that I should do it more often), but Immortal Flame makes it hard not to with Valkyrie Sky. This track is pure power metal perfection! Heavy, melodic, mid-tempo to start and then cuts loose into a bitchin’ solo that, if you’re not ready for it could send you straight to Valhalla! Also, this genre is riddled with shitty lyricism, so mad props to John Leibel for stitching this masterpiece together.

Oh, and the icing on this already scrumptiously fattening cake of powah? The closing track, There Can Be Only One is about… shit, do I really have to tell you? …although, maybe I should since that series is plagued with towering mountains of bullshit that might throw some people off. The song based on the first Highlander flick and it does this particular sacred cow more justice than ANY of the sequels!

Gripe Time (Don’t worry, the list is short.): Ugh! Again with precious time being eaten up by a spoken word intro track! PEEVE! And as much as I enjoy the new stylistic changes to the guitar scheme, I’m a little off put by the solo in Lutetium. It comes off sloppy and maybe a little forced.

Overall: Other than those little ol’ complaints, I can say with my head held high that this EP fucking owns! Here’s to this Immortal Flame burning forever! Cheers!

9/10

Dawn Of Valor Official 
Dawn Of Valor  On Facebook

Genre: Stoner Metal
Label: Independent

I’d just like to start of this review by saying that a lesser band would of wrote me off as a hack or complete ballbag for labeling them as “Brutal Queercore” while questioning what the band’s moniker, “Pinkzilla” meant. (Thanks for the second chance guys!) After blowing my mind with their 2010 demo, Pinkzilla has set the bar pretty fucking high for themselves. Can this big gay lizard make the leap? Let’s read on…

It should be noted that only three of these songs are made up of new material. The other three are re-recordings… holy shit! They’re good ones too!

All the old influences are present in this debut, self-titled album: Black Sabbath, Orange Goblin, Blue Cheer (the colors man! THE COLORS!!!) and the like. So basically, you’ve got yourself a smorgasbord of slammin’ stonery-sludge metal! Vocalist/Guitarist Skyler Wells does an outstanding job at the front of the line, barking out chemically induced insanity with the efficiency of a cattle auctioneer while slinging some pretty wicked riffs ad nauseum! The same can be said about Nate Overholser’s bass work. There is just enough funk in between these slammin’ lines for all of his material to be deemed, “Stonerific” (according to my fiance). And then we come to the drums… yes. Simply, yes. I swear, every time I listen to this album, my heart finds a way to match the beat to each song!

Gah! Gastronaut is the worst song ever! C’mon guys! You’re seriously gonna put a song about the tastiest stoner snacks in the whole of existence at the end of your album that you practically dare people to puff, puff, pass to!? FUCK YOU PINKZILLA!!! This costs you half a point!

(…I have no food in my house at the moment)

Overall: An improvement in every conceivable way! Pinkzilla is easily one of the best unsigned acts that I’ve heard all year and I’m sure you’ll agree once you pick up this album!

9.5/10

Pinkzilla On Facebook 

Genre: Progressive, Psychedelic, Acid Rock
Label: Independent 

Man, having a baby really fucks up your schedule! I’ve been sitting on this review for so long, that Masonic Weird has changed their name to Martyred Whitmans since asking me to review their demo, Manic And Self Medicated! Apologies all around.

As soon as this demo started up, I was reminded of a band that I review waaaaaay back with E-Metal Reviews called To The Bones. I went a little overboard with praise on that review since it was my first real experience with the progressive/psychedelic sub-genres and to this day, it still creates a massive erection in my trousers whenever I’m allowed to review anything from said genres. And now that you can’t unknow that, I’m please to say that Masonic Weird’s demo is a “boner”-fied piece of doom-y progression! If you’re not familiar with To The Bones, then maybe the comparison of The Sword (sans the poser tag) meets Earth might raise an eyebrow or two (I know it did for me as I wrote that).

Now, I’ve read some reviews about this band in the past that didn’t paint them in the best of lights, so I’ll be honest and say that I wasn’t really looking forward to it… how quickly we remember not to believe everything we hear/read/see on T.V.! Seriously, I’d like to know who those guys were listening to when they wrote those reviews? Because I’m positive that it wasn’t Masonic Weird! There’s nothing “hipster” about this music! Sure, pot helps… it helps with EVERYTHING! And who the fuck isn’t gonna toke up when they’re listening to doom or prog?!

Braking down the instrumentation, the riffing is exceptional! You’re not really sure where you’re going to be lead next, but that don’t matter since it’s constantly exciting more than what you were expecting. The bass in Manic And Self Medicated is perfect. Perfect. The mixture or doom and progressive styles pretty much just left the bass roam free. The freest I’ve ever heard a bass be, in fact. In my opinion, this is some of the best use of bass I’ve ever heard! (Kudos to Yehuda McKay) Drums? Yeah, they’re there and awesome. But, prog drums are always awesome, so I’m glad to see that the trend continues here. The only other thing that feels standard are the vocals. They aren’t anything ground breaking, but I wasn’t looking for groundbreaking so it all works out fine there.

There’s not much to say about this demo that I haven’t already touched on or that you couldn’t already gather. It came completely out of left field and rocked my socks off. But if you really want me to gripe about something, I’ll give you this: I was expecting something a bit more “weird”. But that’s not an official gripe.

Overall: Every riff is a combination of thick and catchy. Every lyric is dripping with THC and acid. Every bash of the brass is one that will stay with you after the demo stops playing.   Everything about this offering is genius! Plain and simple. If you like bands that stick to their guns and play shit that isn’t exactly what people think that it should be, then Masonic Weird/Martyred Whitmans is just for you!

10/10

Masonic Weird On Facebook
Martyred Whitmans On Facebook 

Genre: Nu-Metal, Industrial, Rock
Label: Independent

I’ll admit it… that’s one creepy looking album cover.

Other than that, what can I really say about this album? Well, it’s definitely an album. There’s music on it. When you put it in a device that plays CDs, sounds come out of the attached speakers. That’s good, right?

Man, I really don’t want to be mean or to rag on these guys because I can tell that they poured their hearts and souls into this album, but I just can’t get into it. Everything about Another Failure In The Making just seems like it missed the boat by about ten years. I have a feeling that if this came out around 2000-ish, I might of been in to it and/or knew some guys that would of been into it.

There are moments of fun and whatnot hidden between the banal song writing and repetitiveness. The vocalist really seems to enjoy his style of screaming. You can really hear the boiling anger just seething behind every word. And I can’t really complain too much about a band that writes a catchy jump riff like the same three or four recycled through this album… argh. I guess I can. Sorry.

I should note that the only reason I gave this album/band the multiple genre distinction, is because I just couldn’t pin down what these guys were aiming for, not because they took three different genres and melded them together coherently. Because they didn’t. Each track sounds pretty much like a carbon copy of the track before it. Well, there is the exception of I Hope You Die In A Car Crash. There’s a bouncy, upbeat tempo and blues guitar portions to it that makes it the standout track of Another Failure In The Making.

Overall: While Another Failure In The Making isn’t exactly that, it isn’t really something I can get behind either. The whole angsty, angry at everything mentality isn’t really my thing anymore. But if it is yours and you enjoy albums that contain the same song played about eleven times over, then Another Failure In The Making is custom made for you!

5/10

Another Failure Official
Another Failure On Facebook