Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Gothic Metal, Doom

Label: Napalm Records

Ah, Draconian. When referring to a law or the application therefor of, it means to be extremely harsh and/or outdated. But when referring to the Swedish gothic doom band, this is most certainly not the case! I wonder if there is an actual correlation between the name they chose and their music? Maybe they sing in the language of the dragons?

As soon as things start moving along, I’m instantly reminded of Battlelore. A tired and overdone comparison I’m sure, but an accurate one at that (Yes, I know that Draconian predates their Finnish label mates by about five years, but I heard Battlelore first so the comparison stands further). Opening track The Drowning Age is a behemoth of steel thorns and rows and rows of severed heads on pikes! Every time I hear the line, “Let’s bring our Gods to the gallows; a new moon will shine on you!” I get the goosebumps!  (Plus, any song that mentions the Chimera is insta-win in my book since it’s my daughter’s name.)

If there’s one thing that Draconian does right in A Rose For The Apocalypse, it’s the darkly romantic mood it casts in both the lyrical and instrumental senses. Elysian Night is an excellent example of this with it’s slow tempo, melodic female vocals (also the best song to just sit and groove on her singing as well) and expertly sectioned synths. The later is something that most bands of this kind of genre tend to overuse or turn into a gimmick. Thankfully, Draconian does not.

However, what they do overuse is they same basic song structure for just about every song on the album. If you don’t mind your gothic doom a little on the repetitive side (and how can you not since it’s another pitfall that these type of bands fall into) then this won’t bug you in the slightest.

Overall: A Rose For The Apocalypse is an extremely enjoyable album. From the depths of the nightmare evoking growls to height of the ethereal lyrics, Draconian drinks from the chalice of awesome!  …even if none of them sound like Sean Connery. (BOOM! Dragonheart reference!)

9/10

Draconian Official

Draconian On Facebook

Draconian On MySpace

Genre: Stoner Metal
Label: Napalm Records

After being fired by Roadrunner Records for firing their singer, these instrumental stoner metal innovators found a fair amount of notoriety. But then without Roadrunner or a singer, they moved onto Spitfire then Napalm and have since (or so it seems) found even more ways to create moving, instrumental metal.
Riff after riff is churned out on V, and not a single one is wasted or filler. Each song (still only titled with a number) is a perfect desert jewel that shines brightly with it’s own strange, sometimes psychedelic light. They could all easily feature vocals, as all have verses, choruses, and bridges. But thankfully all but three have such a distraction from the awesome tone.
I’m especially particular to Rich Mullins’ bass tone and technique. Very classic sounding, but still his own.
The songs “The Cynic”, “Jimmy Dean”, and “Never Say Die” are the ones with a singer, a man by the name of Daniel Davies, also from the band Year Long Disaster. His voice is perfect for K2B’s reverb drenched music, and is a highlight of the album.
And yes, “Never Say Die” is a Black Sabbath cover, and it’s a fucking killer rendition. Faster, with a very different energy. The man sounds nothing like Ozzy (who does, really?) but he definitely owns this song, making it a Karma to Burn track more than a Black Sabbath cover.
V kicks ass.
7.5 out of 10.

Karma to Burn on Facebook.

Genre: Pagan Folk Metal
Label: Napalm Records

Oh Arkona. Where else can an accordion and flute sound so fucking metal? Throw in lightning fast guitars, bass, and drums to create a most unusual – and thoroughly enjoyable – experience.
Despite not having a clue as to what’s being said (it’s all in Arkona’s native Russian), I’m sure the lyrical content is just as epic as the vocals themselves. Sung by Masha, who’s impressive vocals are somewhat chant-like, and hypnotic at times. Her death growls are awesome, and truthfully I thought they were done by one of the men in the band.
The EP itself is to prepare fans of Arkona for a new full length, coming out soon. It’s got a couple new tracks, including “Skal”, which features Varg and an acoustic version of the title track off their last LP, Goi, Rode, Goi! It’s probably not essential unless you’re a big fan, or a more inexpensive way to introduce yourself to the music of Arkona, but I definitely recommend it.
7 out of 10.

Arkona on Facebook.

Genre: Stoner Rock

Label: Napalm Records

You know how in the movies when it rains, it’s never a light drizzle for more than a few seconds before it becomes a torrential downpour? Well, that’s what Karma To Burn albums are like to me. There is never more than a few seconds between some filler droning and the wall of sound that this West Virginian juggernaut launches at you! Thankfully, their fifth full length album, V, is no different.

As I write this review, I’ve listened to V ten times in the past three days; seven times on its own and three times after listening to Karma To Burn’s 2010 release, Appalachian Incantation (the best back-to-back album team up by the same band that I’ve ever stumbled upon). With that being said, I’ve had a lot of time to mull around the pros and cons of this album… and all I could seriously come up with are pros (show of hands, how many of you saw that one coming?)!

Daniel Davies is the only son of a bitch that could possibly front this band from now on. No one could possibly take his place since his signature style of six string dexterity and controlled vocal wobble are the core of this reformation. Although, I will say that I do enjoy the fact that they try to keep the instrumental deal going with there only being three tracks with vocals on them out of eight. I’m not trying to count out the contributions of the other two wackos in this band at all either. Especially since I’ve never heard the bass played quite as well in this genre of metal/rock before. Low and hard, for sure. But never quite as clear (that’s more of a compliment to the production), loose or as inventive. Rich Mullins, you rule! And now we come to Rob Oswald’s drums… what can I say? They’re every bit as intricate and catchy as anyone listening to a Karma To Burn album could possibly wish for!

And if all that wasn’t enough, the THC Trio wraps up V with a cover of Black Sabbath’s Never Say Die. The original was an underrated song that is now (hopefully) brought to light for a new generation to discover. Thanks Karma To Burn!

Overall: V is in every way imaginable, a Karma To Burn album. That right there should be enough for you!

10/10

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Genre: Folk Metal, Pagan Metal

Label: Napalm Records

By the right hand of Tyr! It’s… Tyr! They’re back after a two year respite and are ready to help sneaky teenagers trick people into thinking that they know everything about Norse mythology by repeating what they’ve “learned” (an unfortunate, yet necessary side effect of such a mind bogglingly awesome band) on their new album The Lay Of Thrym.

As always, every song is an epic story of either a bloody battle between Gods and monsters, how much The Faroe Islands kick ass or something equally as interesting. And we all know that Tyr brings their A-Game to every aspect of their music, but where these guys shine the brightest (to me at least) is in their lyrics.

“You who think the hue of your hide means you get to blame
The black for your own faults and so bring humanity shame
Make sure you count me out of the ranks of your inbred morons
With your sewer gas and kiss my Scandinavian ass”

-Shadow Of The Swastika

Are you really going to argue with me after reading that?

On a less complimentary note, it seems that the further away from How Far To Asgaard we get, there’s less and less of a folky influence in Tyr’s music. I mean, it’s still here in The Lay Of Thrym (in Konning Hans and Ellindur Bondi a Jadri most noticeably), but only by inches compared to earlier releases. Now, it’s all wailing guitar solos, and driving beats… wait, am I really complaining about that? It’s more of a lateral move or maybe a trade off of sorts. More “traditional metal” for less “traditional folk”. I guess you can chalk that up as a plus if you want, but I think it takes away from what makes Tyr sound like Tyr.

Overall: The Lay Of Thrym is an epic, hard driving album that just begs to be added to your already choked viking/folk metal collection. I mean, come on! How can you pass up an album that contains the phrase, “Kiss my Scandinavian ass!”?

9/10

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