Funeral Rain Press Corps

Since the release of 2008′s groundbreaking debut In Waking: Divinity, New England metallers THE BREATHING PROCESS have prided themselves on the hybrid nature of their music. Splicing symphonic black metal with brutal death metal, the band further manage to introduce elements of epic ambience and melody unseen by most acts in today’s realm of heavy music. Now with the release of Odyssey: (Un)Dead the band look to break through to a larger audience delivering an amazing album that is already eagerly anticipated.

Odyssey: (Un)Dead features 12 tracks and was produced by Dave Otero (Cephalic Carnage). Conceptually based on a single person’s journey down the path of exile,the new songs progress in bold, varying movements that emphasize the power and landscapes of the world’s natural elements: Oceans, forests, great plains, glaciers and deserts. These elements are reflected in the songs themselves, almost as if each song is an interpretation of the world’s vastness. Huge, grandiose keyboard flourishes blend with pulverizing riffs and breakneck drumming, topped off by a perfect balance of screamed and sung vocal patterns — it is a treasured listen.

In addition, The Breathing Process will be performing a handful of east coast dates prior to the record’s release:

2/17/2010 Mojo 13 – Wilmington, DE
2/18/2010 Championship Bar – Trenton, NJ
2/19/2010 Tuxedo Junction – Danbury, CT
2/20/2010 Bogies – Albany, NY
2/21/2010 Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
2/26/2010 The Warehouse – Hartford, CT w/ Silent Civilian
2/27/2010 The Pal – Fall River, MA

Odyssey: (Un)Dead will be released on the US on March 9th via Candlelight Records.

The Breathing Process on MySpace.

Genres: Pagan Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal
Labels: Azermedoth Records, Salute Records

A super cool sounding album, taking elements from various inspirations and mixing them up together.
It’s black metal, but pagan elements and symphonic elements are omnipresent and in on track an elecronic/industrial side is shown and in another track a minimalistic side is shown.
Almost all the songs are really strong, except one. I try to refrain from saying anything derogatory, but I must admit I think “Hate My God” is far too much of a filler track. Compared to everything else on this album, it too much formula and not enough Demorian.
The plus side, however, is that the rest of this disc is good enough that it’s made up for completely. I will be making repeat listens, and often. 7 out of 10.

Track By Track:

The Rising – A nice and slow intro to the album, an ode to the old Norse gods. Really sweet.

Emily – Obviously based on The Exorcism of Emily Rose, it’s a fucking awesome song. Reminds me of a slower, heavier Dimmu Borgir. Love it.

Away From God – Sound wise, it’s still like a slower, heavier Dimmu Borgir, but there seems to be more of a thrash/punk influence in the guitar riffs here. Lyrically, it’s a man turning away from God because of the evil he sees and lack of evidence of God’s existance.

Blood on Celtic Soil – Battles in Scotland! Slow death metal played like black metal, with mostly clean vocals. Fucking cool sounding and a nice history lesson wrapped up into one package.

Ancient Times – Keys sounding like horns and pipes, with cool riffs. Again, Norse gods.

Only Death Prevail – Basically, “Blood on Celtic Soil Part II”, even continuing with the lyrics in parts. But musically toned way down. It’s a slow dirge, and quite nice with the near-whispered rough singing. A flute leads it along for the most part, bringing a true Celtic feel to the song. Love it.

Wintercold – Fuck yeah! Fas as hell drums and deep as fuck bass, throat ripping vocals and symphonic keys, with lyrics about colonization in the name of Thor. Great.

Back to Odin’s Land – Lyrically, I don’t think I have to go into it. Musically, it sounds a little flat, but on purpose. Minimalistic with a tone and riff structure that takes me back to the 80′s, like Judas Priest crossed with Motly Crue.

Hate My God – Another self-explanitory song as far as lyrics are concerned. And it seems, again, flat sounding, and quite honestly it’s a little on the formulaic side of writing black metal music and lyrics. It’s a good song, but the weakest on the album.

One With The World – Pretty cool sounding, the flutes and horns are back again, and so is the Nordic theme. Too damn short though. Songs like this need to be at least five minutes long.

Home of the Brave – Slow and pretty, a flute leading with blackened vocals. Really good.

Celtic Shores (Bonus Track) – Holy fucking SHIT! Why does this song have to be the last one? This is such a great sounding song. Demorian bring a touch of industrial elements to the keys and it’s fucking rockin’.

Outro – A thirty second piano piece. It really should be longer, it’s a really cool teaser of a good musical piece.