Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Progressive, Psychedelic, Acid Rock
Label: Independent 

Man, having a baby really fucks up your schedule! I’ve been sitting on this review for so long, that Masonic Weird has changed their name to Martyred Whitmans since asking me to review their demo, Manic And Self Medicated! Apologies all around.

As soon as this demo started up, I was reminded of a band that I review waaaaaay back with E-Metal Reviews called To The Bones. I went a little overboard with praise on that review since it was my first real experience with the progressive/psychedelic sub-genres and to this day, it still creates a massive erection in my trousers whenever I’m allowed to review anything from said genres. And now that you can’t unknow that, I’m please to say that Masonic Weird’s demo is a “boner”-fied piece of doom-y progression! If you’re not familiar with To The Bones, then maybe the comparison of The Sword (sans the poser tag) meets Earth might raise an eyebrow or two (I know it did for me as I wrote that).

Now, I’ve read some reviews about this band in the past that didn’t paint them in the best of lights, so I’ll be honest and say that I wasn’t really looking forward to it… how quickly we remember not to believe everything we hear/read/see on T.V.! Seriously, I’d like to know who those guys were listening to when they wrote those reviews? Because I’m positive that it wasn’t Masonic Weird! There’s nothing “hipster” about this music! Sure, pot helps… it helps with EVERYTHING! And who the fuck isn’t gonna toke up when they’re listening to doom or prog?!

Braking down the instrumentation, the riffing is exceptional! You’re not really sure where you’re going to be lead next, but that don’t matter since it’s constantly exciting more than what you were expecting. The bass in Manic And Self Medicated is perfect. Perfect. The mixture or doom and progressive styles pretty much just left the bass roam free. The freest I’ve ever heard a bass be, in fact. In my opinion, this is some of the best use of bass I’ve ever heard! (Kudos to Yehuda McKay) Drums? Yeah, they’re there and awesome. But, prog drums are always awesome, so I’m glad to see that the trend continues here. The only other thing that feels standard are the vocals. They aren’t anything ground breaking, but I wasn’t looking for groundbreaking so it all works out fine there.

There’s not much to say about this demo that I haven’t already touched on or that you couldn’t already gather. It came completely out of left field and rocked my socks off. But if you really want me to gripe about something, I’ll give you this: I was expecting something a bit more “weird”. But that’s not an official gripe.

Overall: Every riff is a combination of thick and catchy. Every lyric is dripping with THC and acid. Every bash of the brass is one that will stay with you after the demo stops playing.   Everything about this offering is genius! Plain and simple. If you like bands that stick to their guns and play shit that isn’t exactly what people think that it should be, then Masonic Weird/Martyred Whitmans is just for you!

10/10

Masonic Weird On Facebook
Martyred Whitmans On Facebook 

Genres: Death Metal, Progressive Grindcore
Label: Relapse Records

FTF have been a favorite of mine for a long time, as readers of this site may well know. When I was given the opportunity to download and review the new album from the PR company, I was stoked. So yeah, I downloaded the promo, listened to it a couple times, and loved it. But never had the actual time to get my thoughts on it down. Then last night I was in HMV and ended up grabbing a copy of the album. So now that I have the physical version I’m making the time to review it properly.

This is definitely one of the strangest FTF albums so far. It has the grinding of previous albums Stigmata High Five and Disgorge Mexico, but it blends in more of the death metal influence that was very obvious on the Unnamed 7″. Absent are the slower, pretty parts that hearken back to 80′s thrash (especially Metallica) that were featured on Disgorge Mexico. The songs seem longer too, and in continuing with FTF traditions, there is a long song that is almost seven-and-a-half minutes long (“Census Blank”). This song also has a guy doing vocals on it, but due to the awesome amounts of liner notes for the album I have no idea who is doing them. Probably one of the guys in the band.

The second-longest song brings in another FTF tradition, a song in French! “95″ is the tune, and it’s a really fast, angry sounding track that makes me want to mosh like crazy, especially during the guitar solo. This one is a good example of the strangeness of the album too: it’s got a slower riff that really strikes me as a Black Sabbath worship riff. Totally doomy with a touch of psychrock going on.

These little sections are peppered all over the album, riffs that just are not typical grindcore or death metal, but bringing in other genres that influence the men and lady of FTF. And the way that they work with the more typical Fuck the Facts sound is amazing!

In the end, Die Miserable is a sweet album, and definitely should be looked at for those that are into Pig Destroyer, Buried Inside, Gigan, Napalm Death, and Nasum.

8.5 out of 10.

Fuck the Facts on Facebook.

Genre: Depressive Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal
Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records

It’s quite unreal the amount of quality work that is coming from Hypnotic Dirge as a record label. Skog has been signing such great bands that really are different from the standards in depressive black metal (which is HDR’s primary bread and butter along with more ambient sounds), and Funeral Fornication is not a change of his general attitude.

FF’s newest album, Pandemic Trangression, is at it’s core depressive black metal but it has so many facets to it that it almost immediately steps out from the shadow of generic one man closet DSBM. Clean guitars and pianos, true singing, and symphonics that would make Dimmu Borgir proud are brought together with a real rawness that you could only get from the mountains of British Columbia.

This is Canadian black metal like no other, and I definitely recommend it for fans of the aforementioned Dimmu Borgir, old Cradle of Filth, Spectre, and the shoegazing black metal that is seeming to be taking over the world (Alcest, An Autumn for Crippled Children, etc…).

8 out of 10.

Funeral Fornication on MySpace.

Genres: Doom, Progressive, Sludge
Label: Relapse

The first album in four years from these Arkansas gents yields a set of mixed results. And all of them are good. There is some seriously bone crushing and ear damaging music held within Rest, and with songs that breach the sixteen minute mark, you better be bringing your attention span to this headbanging contest. On the other hand though, there are some seriously mind expanding (but still ear damaging) parts to Rest. For example, “The Culling”, the sixteen-minute-plus song I mentioned, features some gorgeous acoustic/electric riffage that enables one to space out and relax before the storm renews itself. The same goes for “It Was Only A Dream”, the final track.

If you are a fan of Rwake’s other work, then this is a definite must for you to get. If you’re interested in listening to some proggy doom, then you should get your hands on this album.

8 out of 10.

Rwake on Facebook.

Genre: Technical, Hardcore, Progressive, Melodic Death Metal

Label: Sumerian Records

Ah ha! Now here’s a band that doesn’t seem to polarize people nearly as much as my last two review subjects. In fact, I can’t seem to throw a stone without hitting someone who is completely indifferent about Born Of Osiris. That actually bugs me. Born Of Osiris tends to get lumped in with either the shitty end of metalcore or the even shittier end of deathcore. But honestly, I don’t think that you can categorize them as simply as that. Nobody ever seems to remember the progression or the clear as day hardcore influences. Ugh…

Right from the start, Born Of Osiris brings their A-Game with The Discovery. A more than hearty, “FOLLOW THE SIGNS!!!” greets you at second number one followed by a torrent of intricate keys, chords and ka-drums that coalesce into the best opening to an album that I’ve heard all year. And in case you’re new to the Born Of Osiris game: Good lord, there’s a lot going on in these songs! If the tracks within The Discovery were a posh socialite shindig, the hall would be packed to the rafters with beautiful people, hobnobbing about cutting edge technology while beating the shit out of each other… to the music of Born Of Osiris! They’re complex, intelligent, pretty as shit to the ears and tend to swing fists violently!

Something I’ll point out that makes the most impact here: the keys. Theres a lot of the little synthesized effects that sound like they could of been ripped out of Metroid or some other piece of 8-bit awesome! The keys put subtle accents on the melodies and mix well with the vocals (especially the backing cleans) and they appear in every track, yet they never over stay their welcome. That last one is most impressive since most bands that use synths either over use them or make them the focal point, which is incredibly annoying.

And now, the negs. The vocals are on par with everything you’ve heard from The New Reign and A Higher Place, which is why once again I’m forced to bitch about the whining shout that backs up the more hardcore growl. Seriously, ditch that concept! The main vocals are strong enough to not need secondary ‘core shouting. Next, I wish that there were more clean vocals. They really work well in the background, but I feel like having them higher in the mix or having them appear more often would really help break up some of the vocal monotony… which is complaint number three. In every song, the main vocalist doesn’t change it up at all. I don’t know if he can’t or doesn’t want to, but I’m telling you that if he changed his pitch (lower in most points, to a growl, would be best) I’d be happier.

Overall: The Discovery is aptly titled since this is the album I would suggest to people that haven’t listened to them before. It’s a feels like a natural progression for Born Of Osiris since I thought that A Higher Place was the best thing these guys had put out up until then too! Highly recommended.

9/10

Born Of Osiris On Facebook