Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Doom, Sludge
Label: The End Records 

After another looooong and unscheduled break, FuneralRain.net is back to clean up the mess it’s made. I’ve been sitting on a pile of promos that have remained untouched for the past month and a half! But now I’m back to touch the shit out of them! (Inappropriately too!)

A big thanks to The End Records for sending me that box of Opeth albums a few months back! Although, I believe that I failed to mention that I didn’t just get Opeth promos… there was a straggler that almost got left behind: Bereft and their debut album, Leichenhaus. Apparently though, Bereft was originally formed under the name Bewilderbiest. While I think we all agree that Bewilderbeast is a much better name, I think anyone else who has listened to this album will also agree that this was the ONLY mistake they made!

Bereft is comprised of members from almost all walks for metal: Derek Rydquist (The Faceless), Sacha Dunable (Intronaut), Derek Donley (Graviton) and Charles Elliot (Abysmal Dawn). If you’re expecting a full on melting pot of musical radness, you’ll be disappointed. However, if you’re the only person to guess correctly and foresee these guys form a sludgy doom group, you’ll be ecstatic! Leichenhaus (German for mortuary) is something of a concept album revolving around death, the dying and the recently dead. Bereft captures this motif perfectly and isn’t afraid to completely submerge you in a terribly depressive lake of formaldehyde for your troubles.

Normally, this is were I’d try to relate this band to others of the same or similar genres and styles. Yes, there are a few I could name, but I think the actual inspirational credits and influential kudos go to the likes of death, cemeteries, Tibetan monks, grieving, loss and the like.

Vocally, Charles Elliot leads the way with some pretty simple bellows that seem to take little effort to belt out. However, it’s why he does with them that makes them fit in so well. I can’t quite describe it so you’ll just have to listen for yourselves. Accordingly, the instrumentation is top notch in every aspect! The only down side is that I had to turn off my bass boost on my laptop since the guitar is toned down to bass levels while the bass is toned down to Mariana Trench depths. The feedback and pitchy noises coming from my computer were distracting and for a second I thought that they were part of the album! Good thing I’m not a TOTAL jackass…

Overall: Leichanhaus is an ear opening dirge into the halls of the dead and is easily one of the best albums I’ve heard in 2012! Listen for the bells…

9.5/10

-  Typhon

Bereft On Facebook

Posted on the Five Will Die Facebook page:

“Sincere thank you to Richie Donovan for a year and a half of dedication to Five Will Die. Unfortunately other commitments have taken precedence in Richies life, and its with great sadness that we amicably go our separate ways…We wish him luck in his future plans, farewell Uncle Richie ;)
This opens up the position of guitarist in Five Will Die. A high level of guitar skill and professional attitude is essential. This is a very time consuming position, and demands a huge amount of commitment. Extensive live experience desirable. No age/sex barrier, you can download and listen to songs on Soundcloud for reference for free.
Interested parties please contact us at fivewilldie@yahoo.com
Remaining shows we have booked will be played as a four piece, starting with Dublin next weekend.”

Genres: Doom, Sludge
Label: Anthropic Records

One of my favorite labels has sent me a shiny new record! And it’s on transparent green vinyl! And it’s a fucking MONSTER of a record too!

Needless to say, I was pretty stoked to give this a spin, even on my asshole of a record player that doesn’t seem to want to send sound to the speakers properly. And for some reason, maybe because it understood the awesomeness of the vinyl, the speakers were sounding great. Thank you record player. Thank you.

Now, on to the review!

Side A is Philly’s Sadgiqacea, facestomping their way through two tracks (“The Great Divide”, “Avianizer”). Doom as doom can doom, these guys are so fucking awesome. I thought their older tracks on Bandcamp were great, but these two songs throw those into the mud. If you’re into stuff like Five Will Die, Black Tusk, Fight Amp, Bison B.C., and the Side B band Grass, you should check these guys out. If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I mention those bands, think of an angry Black Sabbath with Henry Rollins getting punched in the face by Justin Broadrick as the vocalist. 10 out of 10.

Side B is another Philly doom as fuck band, who continue to kick the shit out of their listeners and amps after Sadgiqacea leave off, who they also follow in the same vein musically. I feel sorry for stages and moshers that these guys play for, because if this is indicative of all their stuff (my first time hearing Grass), they destroy shit. Bleeding ears, noses, and knuckles all around. 10 out of 10.

Math should be obvious here. 10 out of 10.

Sadgiqacea on Facebook.
Grass on Facebook.

Genre: Doom, Sludge
Label: Independent

FIVEWILLDIE (Five Will Die, FWD, 5WD) have been one of my favorite bands ever since Funeral Rain Zine was a shitty hole on MySpace. These Irish lads were one of the first bands I hooked up with and ever since then I’ve been wanting to hear more from them. And now I have. And wow.

Worth & Soul is a killer doom album, perfect for fans of faster, angrier doom. Elements of death metal and hardcore are all over the place, with slow breakdowns and beatdowns. If you’re expecting a Katatonia or My Dying Bride here, you’re looking in the wrong direction. Instead what you’ll get is a face full of fists. Tracks take an anti-Christian bend as well, in a more atheistic way, and some spots (especially in “Seeds”) are even reminiscent of Tool.

The album itself starts with “Wrecks of Men”, which features Andy’s roar right from the start, going straight for the eyes. The riffage is slow, deep and solid. Perfect for headbanging while pounding your fist on the patch-laden vest of the bloke in front of you in the pit. The general feel really doesn’t change, but “Nothing Against Your Conscience” does slow it down even further for a time to get you ready for the next assault. “Sons of Horus” is just fucking vicious, viscous doom, and “Great Minds and Fools” keeps it up. “Blood and Soil” is one of those songs that I can see getting covered by other bands. It’s slower than your grandmother driving and just as scary. “Blame the Martyr” takes on a more classic doom feel at the start, then brings in that FWD flavor with tons of crunchy broken noses; one of the best tracks on the album. “Seeds” takes the same route, with a clean guitar at the start and some asskicking through the rest, with a slow and clean spot in the middle to breathe for a moment. The pit stays slow again for the final track, the title track “Worth & Soul”, a time to wipe the blood and sweat from your face and finish off another pair of beers before heading into the night.

So needless to say, FIVEWILLDIE have outdone themselves. Worth & Soul is by far their best work, and hopefully indicative of where they will be headed in the future. A fucking masterpiece, I’ll be spinning this shit for years to come.
10 out of 10.

03 Sons Of Horus by Five Will Die

FIVEWILLDIE on Facebook.

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.