Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genres: Death Metal, Thrash
Label: Independent

This CD arrived in my mailbox rather unexpected, but I was somewhat excited to check it out. Mexican death metal is usually pretty good, and when mixed with thrash, it’s even better. Hellsing prove this theory, and have become my second favorite band from Mexico.
The overall sound is a very clean thrash, in the vein of newer Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, or Bullet For My Valentine, but don’t let that discourage you. I know some metalheads would cringe at those comparisons, but when faced with the excellent growls of Jose Luis your idea should change. These guys are the real deal, holding up a ‘true’ metal (whatever that means) flag for the world to unite under.
Opening track “The Rival” opens up with a simple, thrashy intro but quickly turns into a very fistpumping death metal track that strongly reminds me of Canadian thrashers Titans Eve and Trivium, with a bit of 3 Inches of Blood and Cannibal Corpse. Some really awesome solos are in this song, so get your air guitar ready.
The second track, the title track to the EP, is a short song, not even a full minute long. It’s a nice quiet instrumental that leads you into “The Dark Side of the Moon”, a NWOBHM/thrash riff infested slow piece. Iron Maiden meets Entombed? Something like that. Again, solos. These guys know how to do them right; little mini songs that help the main song out. Great stuff.
Bonus track “Razor” is a faster, more evil-sounding vocal track with a fucking killer solo section at 1:28 that doesn’t let up until 2:48, where it goes into the main riff. This thing gallops along like Maiden but just slays with it’s shredding thrashtastic guitar work. Definitely my favorite song on the EP.
The second bonus track, and last song, “The Final Hour” starts off HUGE, reminding me of thrash infected gothic metal. Don’t let that trick you though, as Jose comes in and throws down a vocal that turns this song into a totally melodic Swedeath homage to bands like Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and Soilwork. Second favorite track on the EP for sure.
If you’re into deaththrash, check out Hellsing MX. These guys are really good at what they are doing, and deserve at least a look at.
7.5 out of 10.

Hellsing MX on Facebook.

Genres: Doom, Melodic Death Metal
Label: The End Records

Chicago’s masters of gloom return once again with eight tracks of dark, death-tinged metal that I just can’t stop listening to.
Head crushing heaviness meets heart wrenching emotion. Cathartic and depressing at the same time, Aphotic was obviously written in the very Temple of the Riff itself. Or perhaps the Novembers Doom rehearsal area. Whichever.
Some of the songs were actually written with more input from the new bassist Mike Feldman, which gives the bass a very different room to breathe in for this album, and with Paul’s voice seeming to be at it’s strongest ever, Novembers Doom look ready to finally take the throne that they deserve.
My favorite tracks are “Buried”, “Six Sides”, “Harvest Scythe”, and the female vocal filled, almost gothic acoustic track “What Could Have Been”.
9 out of 10.

Novembers Doom on Facebook.

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Label: Metal Blade

I have been following The Black Dahlia Murder since Unhallowed and they have yet to truly disappoint me (they came close with Deflorate).  Sure, I can go on for ages about Miasma is their best album to date just to despite the nay-sayers, but that’s not what we’re all here for, is it? We’re here for Ritual.

As soon as the atmospheric swell at the beginning of album opener, A Shrine To Madness finished and the band ripped to life, I had to make sure that I was on the right page. I thought I stumbled back onto Job For A Cowboy’s page and I was listening to Gloom again. But after a few seconds, all was right in the world. I was seriously afraid that The Black Dahlia Murder was going to revert to a simple deathcore band for some unknown reason. Thankfully, this is not entirely the case.

Vocalist Trevor Strnad ditches his goblinish screeches ion favor for his superior growls for most of the album. In case you can’t tell, I’m all in favor of this. Long time guitarist Brian Eschbach must not sleep much. I come to this conclusion based solely on the fact that he has consistently for the past eight years continued to astound me with his ability to write masterfully melodic pieces that simultaneously light me ablaze with scorching awesome! Pick a track at random and it’ll be the best work of his career. Guaranteed.

There is one thing however, that I must point out: the deathcore element. Yeah, it kinda sucks. There is a tiny one here and it’s more noticeable than in previous releases. Songs like Moonlight Equilibrium and Conspiring With The Damned have a bit of a forced catchiness to them that almost feels like a reach for a broader audience… do they really need one? I don’t know. It might just be me looking for a flaw that isn’t there. Truth be told, it is completely forgivable and only really puts a tiny black mark on an otherwise stellar album.

Overall: So close to being a perfect album it’s painful! Forget what I said in the opening of this review, Ritual is The Black Dahlia Murder’s best album to date!

9.5/10

The Black Dahlia Murder Official

The Black Dahlia Murder On Facebook

The Black Dahlia Murder On MySpace

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Label: Independent

You might recognize this band from reviews past (re: Paradigm Shift and their 2009 Demo) and remember that the compare greatly to the likes of In Flames and maybe even a little to Scar Symmetry and Soilwork. Well, not a lot has change since then in terms of melodic metaliciousness, so if you aren’t a fan of awe-inspiring melo-riffs and the usage of clean vocals in a genre that REALLY loves it’s brutal growls, then scroll down to a different review.

Vocalist Josh Brewer has cleaned up his clean vocals quite a bit since the demo days and his death-y screams are just as ferocious as ever. His guitar work, coupled with fellow axeman Joey Westerlund is a sonic storm of immeasurable awesome! The riffing here is just as tight and inventive as any of the big boys that I mentioned earlier. Now, the drum work is another story. It’s always been the one part of this band that hasn’t been nearly as… melodic as the rest. It is here that you realize that I’m being a douche and that I have nothing but great things to say about the just right use of blast beats and erratic beating the crash gets without missing a beat (heh). Pacing, it’s what’s for dinner.

It always amazes me just how much melodic metal the guys in Dusks Embrace manage to cram into their releases. If the Melodobytes capacity is 5k, they say fuck it and stuff twice that in. The addition of the superbly melodic female vocals in Desecrated Labyrinth proves my made up fact and was greatly appreciated. This is something that I would like to hear incorporated more often. The contrast in vocal quality and style was just too damn cool to use infrequently.

It should also be said that three of the four songs from their 2009 Demo were re-recorded and slapped on here with varying degrees of success. Imagination’s Cruelty and Oracle’s Song Of Unceasing Wrath were done up right purdy and polished to a shine. Meanwhile, the grittier version of  Oblivion At Hand hit the target closer to center on the demo.

Overall: You’d be hard pressed to find a more melodic, versatile and under appreciated band that absolutely NEEDS to be signed. The world has been deprived of Dusks Embrace for too fucking long! SIGN THESE FUCKERS ALREADY!!!

9/10

Dusks Embrace Official

Dusks Embrace On MySpace

Genres: Melodic Death Metal, Melodic Black Metal

Label: Abyss Records

Hyperborean are a Swedish band formed in 2000, and the newest addition to the Abyss Records roster. The Spirit of Warfare is their just released debut. My gut instinct is to compare this to Arsis, but I shouldn’t, because I can’t stand Arsis, and I must say, I quite enjoyed this tidy little slab of melodic death/black/power/whatever.

They play, as they state on their myspace, symphonic extreme metal. I was a little reluctant to listen to this, because I was under the impression that this was straight melodeath, which I will admit I am a little prejudiced against. However, in the space of 49 minutes and 19 seconds, the legions of Hyperborean besieged and conquered my ears without mercy.

This isn’t trite wanky crap like Arsis, but a glorious and epic soundscape that blends melodic death metal, black metal, and very tasteful use of symphonic elements (read: not Dimmu Borgir). In fact, the symphonic elements, mainly consisting of occasional piano, are so subtle I’m not sure that “symphonic” is a good label to attach to this band.

As I mentioned above, the press email I received says this band was formed in 2000, and it shows. This music sounds like it took time write, enduring the collective scrutiny of the band many times before being recorded for The Spirit of Warfare. All of the songs sound tight and professional, with absolutely none of the signs of amateurism or immaturity that are sometimes present on a debut album. Most of the songs are pretty long, with 4 around 7 minutes and one above 10 minutes, but they don’t feel like it. The band offer enough variation to keep the listener captivated, and the beautiful thing about that is they do it without one dimensional shredding solos or unnecessary vain technicality. The mood evoked changes throughout the album, but as a whole the Spirit of Warfare captures a feeling of oncoming battle and inevitable triumph, of burning cities and banners fluttering in the wind above fields of carnage. Noble riffs gallop forward over tense, dramatic drumming, punctuated by a raspy and passionate yet very controlled vocals delivery.

I’d say this is a must have for fans of melodic death or black metal, perhaps for someone who likes Dissection or At The Gates. Stand out tracks are “Channeling the Spirit of Warfare” and “The Last Stand of Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae”. My applause gentlemen, you’ve earned 7.5/10, and I think someone with more a taste for the melodic would rate this as high as a 9/10.

Hyperborean on myspace