Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Industrial Metal
Label: AFM/13th Planet Records
Format: Digital Stream (Earsplit PR)

I’ve gone through this digital promo a couple times now, and one thing is really sticking out for me: it kicks ass! Grinding industrial slammed into grinding metal with lyrics that range from Al’s troubles in the industry (“Ghouldiggers”), voter apathy (“Get Up, Get Out and Vote”), the Occupy Movement (“99 Percenters”) the end of the world (“Relapse”), and more. The album is a veritable gold mine for topical discussion, and many of it will not be dated for years from now.
Riff-wise, it’s pretty much standard Ministry style, somewhat simplistic and repetitive, but not to the point of boring. Perfect stuff to bang the noggin to. If you’ve never experienced the Ministry sound, you’re missing out. There’s nothing like them. Old fans will love this album, and in some instances they may even think it’s the best so far. Al has never sounded so good vocally, and with Tony Campos running the bass this time around, there’s a definite more industrial touch to it, but with an organic feel behind the scenes.
When this hits the streets, you need to grab a copy of it.
8.5 out of 10.

Relapse Tracklisting:
1. Ghouldiggers
2. Double Tap
3. Freefall
4. Kleptocracy
5. United Forces
6. 99 Percenters
7. Relapse
8. Weekend Warrior
9. Get Up Get Out n Vote
10. Bloodlust
11. Relapse Defibrillator Mix

Relapse Personnel:
Al Jourgensen
Mike Scaccia
Tommy Victor
John Bechdel
Tony Campos
Aaron Rossi

Genre: Electronica, Nu Metal
Label: Dirthouse Records

Man. It has to of been at least ten years since I last heard a Static-X song and longer since I heard one that I enjoyed. Yeah, I was a fan of Wisconsin Death Trip (and Machine to a lesser extent) back in zee day. But that’s were I drew the line. The X-men just kinda fizzled out on me around that time. And since I stopped paying attention to them around that time, I was amazed to find out while researching Pighammer that they released an album as last as… 2009?! Seriously? Wow… color me impressed that there was still an audience for monotonous  three chord repetition, grating vocals and nonsensical lyrics.

But hey, that was a long time ago. Maybe the Super Sayian haired frontman’s solo project will make me want to search the dollar bin at my local Buybacks for their discography?

Well, it still sort of sounds like Static-X. Thumbs down on that end. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Sure, the riffing is simplistic but this time around, I hear glimpses of catchiness! Other than that though, Wayne’s voice is the same as it ever was and his lyrical metaphors are no deeper than the g-spot on a midget hooker. Some advancements, but not many in that realm.

However, the parts of this album were Wayne focuses his attention on the electronica/”industrial” end of things; sampling and the other bits of technical shit that I don’t fully understand how it all works, this album resembles something listenable! I’m shocked that I’m actually going to have something positive to say about this album since I assumed it wasn’t going to be any good at all (shame on me for judging and album by the creepy looking guy on the cover). He made all sorts of creative choices in Pighammer that paid off: toning down the over-distortion that plagued past albums, integrating samples and adding vocals from his wife (porn hottie Tera Wray) in areas where they actually seemed needed instead of cramming them in wherever, etc…

Overall: A slightly different variety of shit delivered in a slightly different way. There is enough of the old Static-X school of music to keep the original diehards interested, but like more of us, some of the old guard will turn their noses up at this offering. In all honesty, Mr. Static was going for something relatively new and creative here to varying degrees of success and failure and the parts that are more industro-lectronica are actually fairly decent.

5/10

Wayne Static Official
Wayne Static On ReverbNation
Wayne Static On Facebook

Genre: Industrial Metal
Label: Listenable Records

It’s like a breath of fresh air to listen to Sybreed’s newest, The Pulse of Awakening. It’s a fast moving, bassy, and dance floor worthy metal album, something that makes me want to bang my head and shake my ass at the same time.
As for the quality of the music itself I think I made it clear that it’s great stuff. Mixed screamed and clean vocals with simple, effective, and heavy as hell riffs with a driving drum and bass section as well as well written electronics are all being combined in the way that only Sybreed does, which is kind of like a cross between Static-X and Rammstein.
Quantitatively the music is pretty damn good too. 12 tracks populate Pulse and they are all winners. Pretty much all of them are radio friendly lengths, some on the longer side of radio friendly. My favourites are “Doomsday Party”, “Human Black Box”, “I Am Ultraviolence”, and “The Lucifer Effect”.
8.5 out of 10.

Sybreed on MySpace.