Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genres: Hardcore, Progressive

Label: Unsigned

Damn you The Pax Cecilia! Aside from a less than descriptive booklet, almost nonsensical cover art and a double sided poster that also did nothing to tell me what the fuck was about to happen to my mind, I had no warning. None. I had no idea that I was about to experience a brilliant mindfuck of alt-rock, progressive rock, ambient and hardcore called “Blessed Are The  Bonds”! (Where the hell did these guys come from and how the hell aren’t they signed to Deathwish Inc.?)  It’s noisy as fuck one moment, then as tranquil as a step-mom that’s passed out on Sudafed the next. Belligerent screams fill the void as the tracks ebb and flow between the polar opposites of life and death! Love and hate! Happiness and rage! It’s definitely an album that took me a couple of listens to get the hang of. But once I did, “Blessed Are The Bonds” found it’s way into my nighttime rotation of “chill/mellow out” music. “Bless Are The Bonds” is, in a word: Breathtaking.

Overall: An interesting take on hardcore as a whole. Dark chocolate covering a light and fluffy, creamy center… yum!

9/10

www.paxcecilia.com
www.myspace.com/thepaxcecilia

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

Genres: Power, Heavy
Label: Unsigned

Hailing from the mythical land of Minnesota, Dawn Of Valor comes to you atop a noble steed, clad in shinning armor and wielding the mighty magical sword known as power metal! The vocals are the centerpiece of this band (which is generally the case in power metal) with vocalist Sean having an impressive set of chords and a powerful set of lungs to back them up. His talents are displayed most prominently in the song Fight For Our Lives, as is the frantic drum work of kit king, Matt. Not to be left out of the fray, dual axe men Seth and John reek havoc across the land with their screaming solos and rampaging riffs of metaldom! If you’re a fan of power metal of any sort, then Dawn Of Valor will do you just fine.

Overall: Over the top power metal that dishes out music about honor, wisdom, loyalty and doing what’s right as apposed to something pertaining to “in the time of the Elves! In a castle made of Dragon’s Blood…” (ß Thanks to Patton Oswalt for the lyrical inspiration)

8/10

www.myspace.com/dawnofvalor

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

Genres: Black, Thrash, Death

Label: Unsigned

The gritty and ultimately raw production of “Inside The Cistern” is but a mere footnote to the sheer awesome power of this Australian blackened thrash trio with hearts of molten metal!  DDD takes influences from everyone from Amebix to Destruction to Sarcofago to Immortal. Vocally, Death Justice pulls an old fashioned black metal rasp while his hands are busy busting out some hearty riffs that are on par with something you’d hear on “Coma Of Souls”. Drummer, Death Angel thrashes her kit to Hell and back with a thunderous arsenal of rolls and flourishes. Unfortunately, this demo’s quality doesn’t do much for Necrohammer and his bass licks. Tracks 4 (Demon’s Chainsaw) and 5 (Day Of The AntiChrist) on “Inside The Cistern” are live tracks… inaudible, unintelligible live tracks. Oh well. They still manage to be more metal than most anything you’ve ever heard! Is “Inside The Cistern” technical? Not really. Is it ground breaking? Not at all. Is it rad? Fucking duh! It’s old fashioned metal done up the old fashioned way!

Overall: Soul shredding, beer soaked blackened thrash in it’s purest, truest form! Diabolical Demon Director brings the heart of metal to the forefront, where it belongs! Horns up to these soldiers of metal!

9/10

www.myspace.com/diabolicaldemondirector

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

Genres: Thrash

Label: Unsigned

Ok, so Destruction and Morbid Angel got together one night in an abandoned castle with the intention to create the perfect mix of death metal and thrash metal. Finding out at the loss of several helpless villagers, they couldn’t approach this undertaking with just any old victim in a neighboring village. So they sent for four young lads from Portland, Oregon that had astronomical Thrashiclorian counts and after less than a year of tinkering around… viola! Excruciator is born! And the four track demo they’ve been generously handing out over the past couple of months is a brilliant piece of thrashamabilia that’s sure to satisfy even the most diehard of old schoolers thrashers! Not to mention the badass Execration cover of Submission To Falsities for the old school DMers! Don’t believe me? Fuck you! Check this shit out for yourself at any one of their several live dates across the Pacific Northwest!

Overall: Wicked old school thrash that rivals anything I’ve heard from several thrash titans lately. Bra-fucking-vo Excruciator!!!

9.5/10

Excruciator On MySpace

Genres: Black, Death, Doom

Label: Unsigned

Milwaukee based death metalers Burial Ritual have returned from the depths of hell and brought a little piece of it back with them! “Tower Of Silence” is a genre blending blur of an album! It takes all the fury of death metal and combines it with the speed of thrash and the purely evil tones of black metal in a way that feels soooo right! I know that other (re: lesser) bands have tried to do the same and failed miserably! Which is what made “Tower Of Silence” that much more fucking badass! The vocals run as the standard low-as-fuck George “Corpsegrinder” Fischer growl (especially during the song Fantasy Of Rape, which I had to check and see if it was a Cannibal Corpse song I‘ve never heard of), while the riffage fluctuates from speedy Destruction-equse notes to speedy Immortal-ish riffs and everything that is deathly and metaly runs in-between.

Overall: “Tower Of Silence” is molten metal! Check it out or may all of your Morbid Angel bootlegs turn into Fall Out Boy material!

9/10

Burial Ritual On MySpace