Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Blackened Thrash
Label: Indie Recordings
Format: Digital Stream (Earsplit PR)

One band that I’ve known about forever but have never checked out is Aura Noir, and I’m now kicking myself in the ass for not checking them sooner. It’s no wonder why they come up a lot when it comes to talks about black metal meeting thrash. These guys make a perfect example of the genre.
Parts of this remind me of a version of Metallica with actual balls. Parts remind me of Venom worship. And parts even remind me of Darkthrone’s The Cult Is Alive album. Granted, it’s not like Aura Noir are legitimate friends with Darkthrone or anything.
There isn’t really much to say. Fast, faster, and fastest riffs fill this album from front to back, and a disgusting necrotic stench emanates from every vocal. Solos are ear piercing and finger breaking, drums are deep with some snare click and fast, and the bass compliments rather than takes any form of front seat. This is fucking awesome!
If you want your thrash punked up with a nice coat of blackened grave dirt, this album is for you.
8 out of 10.

Out To Die Tracklisting:
1. Trenches
2. Fed to the Flames
3. Abbadon
4. The Grin from the Gallows
5. Withheld
6. Priest’s Hellish Fiend
7. Deathwish
8. Out To Die

Out To Die Personnel:
Aggressor – Vocals/Guitar
Apollyon – Vocals/Bass/Drums
Blasphemer – Guitar

Aura Noir Official.
Aura Noir on Facebook.

Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash
Label: Pulverised Records
Format: Digital Promo (Earsplit PR)

Impiety are no strangers to the metal masses. Formed 21 years ago, they’ve been releasing album after EP after album of their own blend of black, death and thrash. Some releases have been better than others, but with their newest album, Ravage & Conquer, Impiety seem to be taking a faster route to awesome.
The drums are faster and more technical, solid as bedrock, and wonderfully complimentary to the thrashtastic (and catchy) riffage emanating from Shyaithan’s and Nizam Aziz’s amps. If only they weren’t triggered to the nines, but rather all natural, I think they would sound better.
The lead solos from Nizam bend the mind just as much as the strings, their speed and clarity astounding.
Shyaithan also takes credit for the bass, and though he’ll never be called thrash’s best bassist, he is a great player that locks in pretty much perfectly with the drums and the rhythm guitar.
The death metal elements that Impiety are known for are a little more subdued with Ravage & Conquer, the album taking a more thrash approach, which is even overshadowing much of the blackened elements (other than the vocals, of course). Some fans might not be thrilled by this, but I know I’m enjoying this, and I prefer black and death over thrash!
My favorite tracks are “Revelation Decimation”, “Weaponized”, and “Legacy of Savagery”.
8 out of 10.

Ravage & Conquer Track Listing:
1. Revelation Decimation
2. Ravage & Conquer
3. Weaponized
4. The Scourge Majesty
5. War Crowned
6. Legacy Of Savagery
7. Salve The Goat
8. Sacrifice (Bathory cover)

Impiety Personnel:
Shyaithan – Bass, Vomit
Nizam Aziz – Lead Guitars
Dizazter – Drums

2/22/12 – The Branx – Portland, Oregon

Anther night, another show at The Branx. After a close call at roll call after the attendee almost didn’t find my name on the press list, I made my way to the floor…

Burning Leather - I made it in just in time to catch this local act’s set. Truth be told, I didn’t know these guys were local and would of guessed that they were from the U.K. based on their down ‘n’ dirty Killers-era heavy punkin’ metal! Unfortunately, their set was criminally short and the only song of theirs that I can remember was set closer Annihilate Us. But you know what? That song ruled and the crowd seemed to agree with me that Burning Leather should feel free to Annihilate Us any time!

Havok –  This was my second time seeing these guys and the other time was at the Branx as well. Fortunately, this time David Sanchez’s voice wasn’t on the fritz, so he was able to sing every song this time around. Just like last time, necks were WRECKED! The thrashin’ that these guys are dispensing is genuine through and through and nowhere is this more apparent than on stage. Havok loves what they do and the audience loves them for it. Case in point: “COVERING FIRE!!!” the cheer for that announcement was probable the loudest I heard all night (though, I personally cheered louder for Afterburner). Bodies were flying off of the stage and into several circle pits that sprang up with the wave of Sanchez’s finger. In short: they came, they saw, Havok conquered.

Toxic Holocaust - I don’t think that there is a band who’s live set inspires a bigger, “Meh.” feeling in me than Toxic Holocaust. Don’t get me wrong though, I sit love Toxic Holocaust on their albums and whatnot, but their live shows are just so humdrum. There is hardly ever any crown interaction, Joel’s voice is almost always tired or lazy sounding and they almost always play the same songs. I made it through about half of their set before *Yawn* fuck it, what’s going on outside…

The Casualties - Gotta be honest, I didn’t give two shits that these guys were on the bill. I was only mildly entertained by them the last time I saw them, so I skipped their set and ended up getting wasted with the Corey Boyd and Gabe Franco of Spellcaster. After a few (too many) belts of vodka, we found our way to a McDonalds were we came across a begger. The dude was standing in mid-thirties weather, asking for money for a McFuckingFlurry. So, of course, Gabe helped a brother out. The guy immediately ran inside and bought a McFlurry, stunning us all… except Gabe. (Love that Franco.) When it was our turn to order, Corey proceeded to inquire about the Cock-Meat Sandwich. “How much for the Cock-Meat Sandwich?” he asked the barely English speaking attendant. (Love that Boyd.) I’m pretty sure that I made the right decision.

English Dogs - Ho-Lee-Sheeeeet am I glad I made it back in time for these rowdy motherfuckers! English Dogs delivered the goods on a seismic scale with their pissed off ‘tudes and “fuck it or kill it” mentality. Vocalist Wakey seemed the sort on sight to be a bit of a loutish oaf… I was oh so wrong! Screaming like a madman possessed by a long since dead madman, Wakey ran and jumped around the stage and even into the crowd on occasion! Guitarist Nick Wynch, engaged the audience with his intense axe slinging and even asked if we’d all be in a picture for him. Yeah, watching the crowd crunch together like that was pretty fun. Even as drunk as I was, I knew that it wasn’t going to end well… but aside from the couple of moonings and a fat girl titty flash, things didn’t go so bad. Suffice it to say, the audience ate up every ounce of what these English Dogs left behind…

Burning Leather On Facebook
Havok On Facebook
Toxic Holocaust On Facebook
The Casualties On Facebook
English Dogs On Facebook 

Genres: Death Metal, Thrash
Label: Independent

This CD arrived in my mailbox rather unexpected, but I was somewhat excited to check it out. Mexican death metal is usually pretty good, and when mixed with thrash, it’s even better. Hellsing prove this theory, and have become my second favorite band from Mexico.
The overall sound is a very clean thrash, in the vein of newer Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, or Bullet For My Valentine, but don’t let that discourage you. I know some metalheads would cringe at those comparisons, but when faced with the excellent growls of Jose Luis your idea should change. These guys are the real deal, holding up a ‘true’ metal (whatever that means) flag for the world to unite under.
Opening track “The Rival” opens up with a simple, thrashy intro but quickly turns into a very fistpumping death metal track that strongly reminds me of Canadian thrashers Titans Eve and Trivium, with a bit of 3 Inches of Blood and Cannibal Corpse. Some really awesome solos are in this song, so get your air guitar ready.
The second track, the title track to the EP, is a short song, not even a full minute long. It’s a nice quiet instrumental that leads you into “The Dark Side of the Moon”, a NWOBHM/thrash riff infested slow piece. Iron Maiden meets Entombed? Something like that. Again, solos. These guys know how to do them right; little mini songs that help the main song out. Great stuff.
Bonus track “Razor” is a faster, more evil-sounding vocal track with a fucking killer solo section at 1:28 that doesn’t let up until 2:48, where it goes into the main riff. This thing gallops along like Maiden but just slays with it’s shredding thrashtastic guitar work. Definitely my favorite song on the EP.
The second bonus track, and last song, “The Final Hour” starts off HUGE, reminding me of thrash infected gothic metal. Don’t let that trick you though, as Jose comes in and throws down a vocal that turns this song into a totally melodic Swedeath homage to bands like Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and Soilwork. Second favorite track on the EP for sure.
If you’re into deaththrash, check out Hellsing MX. These guys are really good at what they are doing, and deserve at least a look at.
7.5 out of 10.

Hellsing MX on Facebook.

Genre: Thrash, Metalcore
Label: Elephantine Records 

I’ve been waiting four years for this album to come my way! I reviewed 18 Wheels Of Justice’s Deceive Them All back in 2007 and have been drooling for their next album ever since (I think their superb cover of The Trooper helped grease those wheels). After several failed attempts to receive one through the mail, I opted for the MP3 format. And now, my four year wait is over! Here we go…

Immediately, Execution eclipses Deceive Them All in all conceivable arenas. The songwriting is sturdier. The fast riffing is even faster. The thrash is fucking thrashier! I can’t really add much to this review on a musical analysis level. If you heard their last album, just take everything that might of been a little loose and tighten it up until you’re afraid it’s gonna snap, then add a fresh coat of paint and attach CO2 canisters to it and you’ve got this album in a nutshell.

Vocalist and new kid on board, Adam Sloan has a much wider range of vocal styles than Steve Justice. Adam has the hardcore shouting deal down alright and even throws out a shrill shriek every once in a while. But occasionally his growling tends to waver and wobble and it’s a bit distracting. Other than that, I can’t complain about his performance and I welcome and accept him into the family.

I should also mention that Deceive Them All was mostly metalcore in musical direction, regardless of what you might of heard elsewhere. Execution is Deceive Them All’s polar opposite in terms of ratio. This time it’s 25% metalcore and 75% thrash which will hopefully expose these guys to a wider audience of Thrasholes!

Overall: A thrashy overhaul and a new vocalist make Execution a clear improvement over their last album. And while I wouldn’t recommend this album to everyone I know, I’d still recommend it to a shit-ton of them!

8/10

18 Wheels Of Justice On Facebook