Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genres: Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Black Metal
Label: Mortal Music

Another killer release from the small but strong label Mortal Music, Withering Soul’s mix of melodeath and symphoblack is something just short of stunning. It sounds more like a band from the UK or Scandinavia, but these dudes are from Chicago(!).
Throat ripping vocals are coupled with great blast beats and gorgeous, dark gothic keyboards, with furious guitar and bass riffs that will shatter car windows and your very soul.
They’re pretty much perfect for fans of Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Behemoth, Dark Tranquillity, and Abigail Williams.
Favorite tracks are “Posession of Deception (Part 2)”, “The Sequitor”, and “Lifeless They Lie”.
The album is coming out in March, grab it.
8 out of 10.

Withering Soul on Facebook.
Withering Soul on MySpace.

Genres: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Label: Mortal Music

With no prior knowledge of this band until one day during my casual perusing of the review section of Blabbermouth.net, I immediately thought that Stygian was most certainly a hellish black metal or brutal Satanic death metal band. Nope. These four rockers had me duped with their brimstone cage of a name… but was I disappoint with what I heard? Not at all.

In Fury Rising, Stygian combines heavy, chugging riffs with waaay out there drum rolls and flourishes to create something that will appeal to both mainstream audiences and a few open minded dregs as well. Vocalist Frank Leary has a voice that’s just perfect for this type of hard rock outfit; kinda wild (as heard in Unstrung Hero) with enough of a clean vibe to pull off the odd ballad (My Regret). He sounds like a mix between James Hetfield during his Tom G. Warrior fandom of James Hetfield days (Oooh! Huuh! Yeah!) and vocalist from once popular and possibly once relevant Systematic, Tim Narducci. And drummer Steve Bacchia, honestly does feel a little out of place at times, choosing a more dense sound that his fellow band mates. Needless to say, his efforts are highly appreciated!

Overall: Don’t turn your nose up at this band or this album. It’s definitely worth a listen. You can buy into the non-hype if you wish, but I still say Stygian is worth your time!

8/10

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace