Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Deathgrind, Goregrind, Technical Deathgrind
Label: Metal Blade Records
Format: CD (Personal Collection)

From the heavy intro to “The Carbon Stampede” to the melodically-charged brutal ending of “Kingdom of Tyrants”, Monolith of Inhumanity carves a swath through the death/gore/tech grinders the world over. Uncompromisingly mindcrushing, even during the more melodic sections, this disc is going to be in the top ten of my albums of the year, guaranteed.
Travis Ryan’s voice alternates between wonderfully enunciated and easily understood death vocals to absolutely gutteral, barely decipherable even with the lyric sheet goregrind grunts, to a delay and echo touched singing that is still angry and death metal as fuck. His performance the entire album over is a definite highlight in itself. Lyrically I love this album; it ranges in topics from the self-destruction of the human race, to human overpopulation (and a solution in “Forced Gender Reassignment”), to the hazards of following Christ, and of course, above all, gore!
The vitriol from Travis is assisted by three killer musicians that all know their shit. Josh Elmore’s guitars are crushing and savage. My neck has not been this abused by a studio album since… well… ever. The leads are inventive while still keeping his style firm in death and grind, the solos finger flaying. The rhythms are fast, brutal and when it’s time to tech out, amazing.
Derek Engemann’s bass work is phenomenal, his tone and speed suggesting fingers over picks, with not a few pops and slaps thrown in to crush your face in. I think there might be a couple instances where he does switch up to a pick, but those might just be the right way of hitting the strings.
The backbone of the band, the human grinder himself, is Dave McGraw. The dude is hyper precise and his speed is unreal. From just straight grinds to technical drumming to bringing it down to a slower pace, Dave has recorded a drum clinic here that also comes, handily enough, with killer music and vocals.
As individuals, Cattle Decapitation are a bunch of dudes that kick serious ass, and would garner a high review themselves. As a whole, they’ve crafted an album that I’ve listened to about twenty to thirty times in the past two weeks since it arrived at the post office. This is not just a few good tracks or a couple nice clever riffs. Monolith of Inhumanity is an entire package, and it’s perfect.
10 out of 10.

Monolith of Inhumanity Tracklisting:
1. The Carbon Stampede
2. Dead Set on Suicide
3. A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat
4. Forced Gender Reassignment
5. Gristle Licker
6. Projectile Ovulation
7. Lifestalker
8. Do Not Resuscitate
9. Your Disposal
10. The Monolith
11. Kingdom of Tyrants

Monolith of Inhumanity Personnel:
Travis Ryan – All Vocals
Josh Elmore – All Guitars
Derek Engemann – Bass
Dave McGraw – Drums

Artwork, Track Listing And First Single Unveiled

America’s reigning kings of brutality, Cannibal Corpse, will unleash their twelfth studio offering this March via Metal Blade Records. Aptly titled Torture, the follow-up to 2009′s Evisceration Plague offers up 12 tracks of maniacally precise, soul-searing death metal. Torture was again produced by Hate Eternal‘s Erik Rutan at his own Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida as well as Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and features the maniacal cover art by longtime Cannibal Corpse artist, Vincent Locke.

While Torture marks the latest progression in the band’s sound, it also witnesses a return to what drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz accurately terms “the frenzied attack of Butchered At Birth (1991) or Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992),” infusing the band’s advanced musicianship with the raw savagery that haunted their earlier releases, and in the process conceiving the definitive Cannibal Corpse record. Adds bassist Alex Webster on the outcome of the record: “We’re extremely happy with how Torture turned out. Erik Rutan did an amazing job with the production, and the songwriting and performances may be our strongest yet. We can’t wait until our fans get to hear the whole thing!”

Witness the gutting sounds of “Demented Aggression,” the band’s first single, as well as studio footage, at the official Cannibal Corpse landing page, at THIS LOCATION.

Torture Tracklisting:
01. Demented Aggression
02. Sarcophagic Frenzy
03. Scourge of Iron
04. Encased in Concrete
05. As Deep As the Knife Will Go
06. Intestinal Crank
07. Followed Home Then Killed
08. The Strangulation Chair
09. Caged…Contorted
10. Crucifier Avenged
11. Rabid
12. Torn Through

As a precursor to the release, Cannibal Corpse will perform a special one-off show at the Culture Room in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 22nd then head to the seas to take part in this year’s edition of the 70,000 Tons Of Metal Cruise. The band will get a short break before a near month-long march through Europe on the Full Of Hate 2012 tour with labelmates Behemoth.

Torture will be released in North America on March 13, 2012.

Cannibal Corpse:
Alex Webster – Bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz – Drums
Rob Barrett – Guitar
Patrick O’Brien – Guitar
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – Vocals

Where: Edmonton Event Centre
When: November 4, 2011

When I found out that GWAR were coming back to Edmonton for the second time in (barely) less than a year I was stoked. Blood was going to flow once more. And this time around they were bringing Every Time I Die and Ghoul! ETID have been a band I’ve only heard bits and pieces of, and liked what I’ve heard. And I’ve only heard Ghoul through the other band of two of its members, Impaled. So it was exciting.
Ghoul came onto the stage to lots of people shouting for them, which is pretty rare. An opener getting cheered by name from the crowd? Must be an Edmonton show. The band themselves were really good, high energy punk/thrash hybrid full of pit-inducing gory lyrics. They even brought up a stage show, spraying blood onto the crowd with a decapitated chicken as well as Killbot and Goreboar’s battle. Fucking awesome, and I hope they make it back to Canada again.
Every Time I Die were great, full of the acrobatics that many of their members have been known for. The crowd really got into them, moshing like crazy for breakdowns and crowdsurfing all over the place. I honestly didn’t know these guys were that big. I’ve seen them in tons of magazines and the like, but never figured they have this strong of a following. The music was loud, fast, and punk as fuck, with tons of hardcore breakdowns. If you get the chance to see these guys, do it, you won’t regret it. Even if the music isn’t for you, the show should be good.
At the end of the night though, this whole show was about one band and only one band. GWAR. Their stage was unveiled, and Corey’s guitar was brought out, placed on a stand with a light on it, and the tech that brought it took a knee before it. I can’t explain how moving that in itself was. For those that don’t know, Corey Smoot played the part of Flattus Maximus, and he had passed away in the tour bus the morning before, and GWAR still decided to finish the tour, the way Corey would want. The crowd, of course, loved it. Cheers were heard all over the EEC.
The band then came out and we let them slay as per their usual. But it wasn’t usual. A very palpable sense of sadness, mixed with anger and anticipation was coming from Oderus, Balsac, Beefcake and Jizmac, and I think it brought them to a closer level to the fans, who were also feeling the same. The set was very much emotionally charged, with Oderus frequently asking Flattus why he went to Planet Home, leaving them all behind. There was even one moment where it truly looked like Beefcake was genuinely choking down tears.
The blood and sweat and goo were all present, and Edmonton was well soaked by the end of the night, turned out into the cold November air. Everyone I saw was elated, full of the GWAR experience, but there was still some melancholy at the end of the amazing night.
Thank you GWAR for sharing your grief with us, and thank you Ghoul and Every Time I Die for joining them. Rest in Peace Corey, and have fun Flattus Maximus on Planet Home. Oderus says you’ll be killing shit and fucking it. I hope so.

Photos from the show are available for your viewing pleasure at the FRPC Facebook page.

Genres: Melodic Death Metal, Viking Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

Amon Amarth’s eighth album doesn’t show too many changes with the band, keeping their signature sound pretty much the same, with perhaps more emphasis on more technicality in the drums. There isn’t much growth in songwriting either, but how do you grow from genius anyway?
AA meld gorgeous melodic guitars and bass that are heavy as the hammer of Thor at the same time, with a voice that is made from a mountain range, used in a singularly unique way that’s still melodic singing with a death growl. And it’s all to the tune of ancient Norse mythology!
Sonically, it’s all very Swedish, with some comparative elements to fellow countrymen Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates, with a slightly American polish on the quality of the production.
If this album doesn’t cement their reputation as one of top most important bands in death metal today, I don’t know what will. It’s damn near perfect. And also to illustrate just how much I actually like this album, I preordered it, the box set with the action figure. How many other bands have action figures with their albums?
9 out of 10.

Amon Amarth on Facebook.
Amon Amarth on MySpace.
Amon Amarth on Twitter.
Amon Amarth Official Site.

Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade

Lightning Swords of Death have been making a name for themselves for the past seven years, causing quite a stir in the underground.
Now on Metal Blade they seem poised to cause a stir in metal’s overground too, and with this album, The Extra Dimensional Wound, I think the stirring stick got bigger.
Huge sounding black metal riffs from Roskva and Menno, played with a more deathy tone and thrash feel with a severe grim coldness pervading the entire proceedings are the order of the day. Autarch’s vocals are as strong as Hell itself, with a frozen drum sound from Thrudvang. Altogether they sound something like a perverse beast made from elements of Goatwhore, Morbid Angel, and Bathory.
7.5 out of 10.