Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Doom
Label: Independent

Morito Ergo Sum, Latin for I Die, Therefore I Am, are a Swedish doom band formed by Paulo Cito (originally from Brazil) and Walter Basile (originally from Italy).They sent me a copy of their demo and it’s been on repeat all day.
They play a doom that’s heavy, almost stiflingly so, but instead of death growls Walter sings in a very melodic, ghostly voice. They remind me of newer My Dying Bride, with the very organic guitars and violin, and the heaviness of The 11th Hour’s Burden of Grief album.
In other words, it’s awesome stuff; very powerful, and I recommend you check Morito Ergo Sum out.
8.5 out of 10.

Morito Ergo Sum on MySpace.

Genres: Punk, Speed Metal, Thrash
Label: Suffering Jesus Productions

Pistöns bring an album of ten hard hitting, ass kicking, and beer swilling rock songs in the vein of Motörhead and oldschool punk, with some metal riffs thrown in.
A trio if Italians who love to rock out with songs about rocking out, how cool their friends are, and how they are number one, Pistöns is a fucking great listen, and it’s goddamn hard to drive around without cranking the shit out of my car stereo and driving around with my windows down.
Oh, and the speed limit is impossible to obey with this going. They get a 7.5 out of 10.
So if you want to listen to some hard rock that will make you headbang, check out Pistöns. No commercialism, this is a kick to head of rock music.

Pistöns on MySpace.

NOTE: This is an old review, moved here from the Funeral Rain Zine MySpace.

Genre: Black Metal
Label: Mal Eventum

Lilyum have been one of my favorite Italian bands ever since they first sent me their album Ultimatum. In fact, they’ve been one of my favorite black metal bands in general, really.
J.H. Psycho and Kosmos Reversum have produced another shit kicking album that continues their sound from Ultimatum and Fear. Tension. Cold., offering new things to the listener, but keeping it still Lilyum. The vocal style has changed somewhat, being more of a deeper growl at times, and the riffs are stronger, more like a Darkthrone or an Immortal-esque black ‘n’ roll more often than being a straight up black metal, and these changes are more than welcome by me.
In all, Crawling in the Past kicks ass.
8 out of 10.

Lilyum on MySpace.

Genre: Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal
Label: War Productions (CD), Depressive Illusions Records (Tape)

Starting off with a soft, slow guitar, “Echoes in the Abyss” starts off Nox Illunis’ first full length album, quickly shifting into inanely fast, razor sharp black metal.
Not a band to fuck around, In Sideris Penumbra is definitely a straight forward melodic black metal, with what seems like progressive death metal, and thrash influences. The songs are a bit in the longish range, with most of them seven minutes or longer, and not a single one of them are filler.
Emotionally charged and emotion-changing, Nox Illunis are a fucking fantastic band, and I definitely recommend you get this amazing gem of an album.
8 out of 10.

Nox Illunis on Facebook.
Nox Illunis on MySpace.

Genre: Death Metal
Label: Abyss Records

Humangled’s death metal is quite refreshing for me to hear because they aren’t American. And we all know there is a huge sound difference, as well as writing style and image style difference, between American and Italian death metal.
Hell, American and European death metal in general. So after bludgeoning myself with North Am DM for awhile, It’s nice to get back to Euro DM.
Anyway, Humangled play a mid- to fast-temp death metal that’s quite catchy in the riff structure, and a very old school vibe fills up the album with touches of new school sound. It’s quite technical in places, but these guys still seem to like bashing in heads just for bashing in heads sake.
My favorite tracks are “Brutalize the Pedophile” and “Under the Root”. I’d recommend it for fans of fellow countrymen Faust, Death, Bloodbath, and less technical Morbid Angel.
7 out of 10.

Humangled on MySpace.