Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Doom, Hardcore, Sludge
Label: Anthropic Records

Philadelphia’s own Anthropic Records lets another free compilation CD out of it’s doors, and it’s chock full of Philly’s greatest doomsayers and sludge masters.
It features tracks from Bubonic Bear (“Throat Cancer Mountain”, 8), Wormrider (“Heroic Brew”, 7), The Green Evening Requiem (“Debilitation Tide”, 9), Ladder Devils (“Pyramid”, 8), Distress Signal (“Untitled”, 7), Thee Nosebleeds (“Fenderhead”, 7), Deathbeds (“Danny Husk”, 9), Vulcan (“Stranger in Black”, 7), and Dirt Worshipper (“The Absence of Color and Light”, 9).
In all, it’s pretty fucking sweet, and a good way to wreck your eardrums. If you’re into doom and sludge, it’s perfect, especially since it has a nice hardcore edge to some of the songs to throw in some variety.
8 out of 10.

Genres: Doom, Grunge, Sludge
Label: SPV Records/Steamhammer Records

Former Type O Negative drummer Sal Abruscato takes a break from the throne to come to the front for his own project A Pale Horse Named Death, and when I found out I was full of anticipation. And it was worth it!
Sal crafted an album full of solid tunes that seem to take the doomy gothic metal approach of early Type O Negative and meld it to Alice in Chains style grunge/metal, giving the whole a sludge flavor. Fucking awesome stuff people, fucking awesome. With him is Seventh Void’s guitarist Matt Brown, and together they make a brilliant team, and their guests include Keith Caputo, Ulrich Krieger and Bobby Hambel.
The album opens with a running, heavy breathing horse, with echoing whinnies, then goes to drag you through the mud with “As Black as My Heart”, a slow song that really shows where Sal’s been musically. Full of bluesy riffs, nice solos, and a melancholy that’s soul crushing and life affirming, it’s definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album.
My top song from the disc, however, is “Heroin Train”, the fourth track. It’s totally an Alice song without Layne’s voice, it’s just fucking sweet.
There’s something about “Devil in the Closet” that really reminds me of 80′s Ozzy Osbourne, when Zakk was first joining the band. I think it’s the guitar tone, mixed with the slow riff that’s drilling itself into my head and staying for good. I’d say this song is in the top three favorites from the album.
There’s not a single filler song on And Hell Will Follow Me, making it pretty much perfect for all those times when you need some grungy metal to take you through the day and you’d like something different from Alice in Chains. This is getting so many repeat listens from me, I might just piss Mrs. Blaspheme off with it soon.
10 out of 10.

Genres: Desert Rock, Grindcore, Sludge
Label: Hexakosioihexekontahex Records

Inspired by Pungent Stench, Kyuss, and Xysma, Groover lay down some really odd shit to tape. And when I say tape, I mean it’s only available on tape, limited to 100 copies.
As an added bonus, it’s really fucking cool too.
Long wah solos and rock riffs with a funky bass line and dirty sounding vocals that switch between death growls and bluesy desert howls are then mashed up with fast grind drumming or medium rock drumming to create something that is, for me at least, completely unheard before.
It’s like watching a slow moving lizard monster drag itself out of the desert and into the city to devour all it sees, then just for fun leave a big turd in the middle of the highway, laughing as it retreats to it’s underground home for another spell of hibernation.
7.5 out of 10.

Genre: Stoner Rock, Punk
Label: Independent

Ok… So… Honest question: When you hear the name “Pinkzilla”, what are you supposed to expect? Brutal Queercore? Progressive Kaiju Metal? Super Stonery Sludge-Core? …wait, that last one was right? Sweet! Works for me!

Pinkzilla hail from the coastal town of Seaside, Oregon… odd place for completely awesome band such as this to spring from (seriously, one moderately sized arcade, about a million hotels that are insanely expensive, a dull as shit beach and over priced restaurants! I mean, I know it’s a “resort” town, but you’ve got to give people more than faux-quaintness before they’ll cough up fifteen dollars for bowl of clam chowder!).

This demo pulls influence from everything from Black Sabbath to Orange Goblin to Cephalic Carnage. And it all works out great! The vocals jump from smokers cough yelling to limp sing-song speak occasionally, which is fine since the balance swings greater to the yelling side.

Instrumentally though, holy shit! The riffing is chunky as hell in some areas, then as rapid as an eighty-nine year old man’s heart beat while watching BDSM porn! The drumming to fucking sweet too! Changing it up without warning and flipping the groove with extreme prejudice! Much ca also be gushed about with the bassist as well! Funk-ay! Crazy bass lines are tossed out left and right with seemingly little to no effort. It all feels as natural as streaking through the quad.

Overall: An up and coming band that doesn’t care if you give them any attention. But I do! Check these guys out! Spark one up and let Pinkzilla wrap their giant hand around your throat and show you what’s what!

9/10

Pinkzilla On MySpace

Genres: Doom, Sludge
Label: Ecophagy Records

This review here is an oddity for me. First up, I got it from Clawhammer PR, which isn’t odd. But HOW I got it from them is: the singer of the band, Jarret Keene, specifically asked Clawhammer to ask me to do the review. I feel honored, Jarret.
Now, the music contained within this album: wow. Picture Black Sabbath sped up a little, with some High on Fire thrown in, maybe some Orange Goblin too. It’s definitely a classic style of doom, traditional to the core, but touches of sludge are in this too. Fucking great primitive nuclear METAL.
You can tell that Jarret is new to the guitar, because of the rawness of the riffs, the sound, everything, and it does not detract at all. The fact that he’s self-taught and has barely been playing for a year adds to the music, and his doctorate in English makes the lyrics that much more potent. He can throw down more metaphors and similes than most lyricists.
Jaq and Jessie’s drums and bass keep this rhythmic monster solid and gorgeously slow, while pounding the horrors of nuclear Armageddon into my conscious and subconscious. I don’t think I’ll sleep proper for awhile after listening to this.
If you want to take a trip through a nuclear wasteland covered in people succumbing to the horrors of radiation, starvation, and worse of all each other, take a trip with Dead Neon. It’s fucking awesome, and I know this is going to be on my own Top 10 for awhile.
My favorite songs are “Doom Town”, “Cancer Eater”, and the folked up album closer “Ride the Light”.
10 out of 10.

Dead Neon on MySpace.