Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Depressive Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal, Progressive Metal
Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records

Ekove Efrits presents a strange listen, one that is somewhat hard to get through without rewinding it once in awhile to catch something that caught your ear. The core is based around black metal, with a depressive lean, but it’s so progressive in ways that it’s hard to call it black metal at all in some sections.
Strings and keys play a huge part in the overall sound, with a slightly longer song structure averaging just over six minutes. Slower paces and spoken words, whispers, and immense atmosphere really help drag you into the music. I wouldn’t recommend playing this at your next party, unless you were planning a Jim Jones tribute.
Fans of Nine Inch Nails (especially The Fragile), Kraftwerk, Opeth, Morgul, and HDR’s other releases should not miss out on this one. It’s really good.
7 out of 10.

Ekove Efrits on Facebook.

California death metal trio Dreaming Dead are readying to unleash their long-awaited new full-length entitled Midnightmares. The follow-up to their 2009 Within One opus, was recorded from June through September of this year. All guitars and bass were tracked at the band’s own studio in downtown Los Angeles while the drums and vocals were tracked at Architeuthis Sound, (where Midnightmares was also mixed). The final product is nothing short of immense. Midnightmares offers up nine tracks of crushingly elaborate death metal anthems as led by band leader, vocalist and guitar priestess, Elizabeth Schall.

Dreaming Dead have continued their ascent to the mightiest of metal’s ranks with their sophomore release, Midnightmares. Retaining many of the extreme metal elements of Within One, Midnightmares showcases a more refined Dreaming Dead, playing with greater precision and offering an even deeper and more provocative musical experience.

As an added bonus, Midnightmares features cover art by renown metal artists Travis Smith, known for his striking work on records from Death, Sadus, Katatonia, Opeth, King Diamond and so many others.

Commented Schall and Mike Caffell (drums, vocals), of the release: “With Midnightmares, we wanted to record an album based around the concepts of night and, obviously, nightmares. We shaped our lyrics as such, and wrote music to capture both the violent, chaotic nature of dreams and the quiet tranquility of the night. We also crafted the album to flow as a whole, symbolizing the progression of an evening into night, and then into dawn; as if the songs couldn’t exist without one another. And, yes, we’re still bringing the speed and brutality.”

Midnightmares Track Listing:
1. Wake
2. Corpse Mountain
3. Overlord
4. Exile
5. In Memoriam
6. Lapse
7. Into The Depths
8. Midnightmares
9. Departure

Members Schall, Caffell and bassist Juan Ramirez have honed their characteristic aural assault of black metal, death metal, and thrash on a nationwide basis for the last four years, sharing the stage with the likes of Morbid Angel, Nile, Immolation, Krisiun, Monstrosity, Master, and Dying Fetus. This Midnightmares-era sees Dreaming Dead sowing the seeds of such time spent on the road, and those picking up the new album or catching the band live will no doubt be struck at how much further Dreaming Dead have taken their groundbreaking metal stylings.

Midnightmares will be released on October 31, 2011 as a digital download via the band’s official web site. Stay tuned for further details. In the meantime, check out the demo version of the title track at their Facebook page.

Genres: Black Metal, Black ‘n’ Roll
Label: Indie Recordings

True Norwegian black metal combined with the progressive mindset of Opeth and the straight forward approach of good old rock results in the great combination that is V (vee, not five).

Strong riffs that evoke black metal as well as some elements of death, thrash, and punk form the basis of the songs. There are even some forays into a folk metal territory, which is just fine by me. I love that stuff.

The songs themselves, unlike Opeth’s epics, rarely make it much past the five minute mark, with only “The Other And The Look” reaching the 10:31 mark. All of them are well crafted, thoughtfully arranged to lead you from beginning to end, rather then start you on a journey and then just drop you off somewhere lame, and all of them follow a great progression through the album as well, meaning listening from beginning to end gives you the impression of something larger in scope, while still having distinct individual songs to listen to. Plus, no riff overstays its welcome, no drum beat is unnecessary, no bassline a third wheel, the keys are always a nice coloring to the music, and Sture’s vocals are always a good overlay. In other words, it’s full of wonderful songcraft. These men know their shit.

If you’re a fan of Immortal, I, Ritual, Morgul, Black River, and their like, then V is right for you.

9 out of 10.

Vreid on Facebook.

Genres: Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock
Label: Independent

I found an email from Thesis in my inbox, asking if I could do a review of their new body of work, Channel 1. They described themselves as a progressive rock with metallic leanings, so I said sure. I’d be happy to.
And if only I knew what I was getting into.
Thesis don’t fall into an easy to define area of music, because they are very progressive, with some psychedelic elements. Amazing musicianship, with an extremely strong voice, Thesis remind me of a slower, more melodic and pretty sounding Tool or Cynic. At times even reminding me of Opeth.
Violins, heavy riffs, and an occasionally oppressive feeling fill this album, and it’s great. Check it out if you’re into progressive music.
8 out of 10.

Thesis on MySpace.

When: Saturday October 15, 2010
Where: Starlite Room, Edmonton, Alberta

Long story short, I was intending to attend this show, in support mostly of Sonorous Odium, the direct support to Samandriel, but after checking the headliner’s music, I became a fan of them as well. Unfortunately, I was not going to be able to attend simply due to money. I had none.
Thankfully, a friend of mine is friends with Jeff B., the keyboardist of Samandriel, and he was able to hook me and Mrs. Blaspheme up with a guest list spot. So to begin this review: thank you Randee and Jeff!
Now, the show! A band from Calgary, Viathyn, opened up the night’s festivities, and did they kick ass! Unfortunately for them some technical difficulties plagued them and the vocals weren’t quite loud enough, but they impressed me enough to go and grab their CD from the merch booth. Proggy, folky, and technical as hell, Viathyn are going to be a force to reckon with. If you’re into stuff like Opeth, Eluveitie, Korpiklaani, and Finntroll, you might be into these guys.
The second band, Sonorous Odium, are some local favorites. Technical melodic death metal, I guess would fit their genre. I’ve been a fan since I saw them headline a show at New City. Fans of Swedish death in general should give Sonorous Odium a listen. They’ve got an EP out that you can expect a review of soon.
Finally, Samandriel took the stage, and despite having to follow Sonorous Odium’s set were undaunted. And they took home the win. Again, some technical difficulties affected the first couple minutes of their set, but they were soon smoothed over and a nearly flawless victory was achieved. Symphonic gothic metal is Samandriel’s forte, and Doneka’s voice is strong, full, and rich. Hoop’s death growls and bass work add a diversity to the band who, if this show is indicative, have a very bass-heavy live set. If you’re into Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, The Gathering, etc., Samandriel will probably turn your crank as well. Give them a listen at MySpace, and if you’re interested order a copy of Awakening.
In all, it was a great night; new CDs in my collection, and some good live music. I hope to see all three bands again soon. Hopefully next time I’ll take the damn camera!