Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Genre: Deathcore

Label: Century Media

Ah. Once again I find myself face-to-face with controversy. I have been defending Winds Of Plague since 2008… and they have been making it harder and harder to do so since then. But you know what? I like what I like. That’s it and that’s all.

Winds Of Plague (for those of you who don’t know) are a deathcore band that popped up around the same time metalcore kinda morphed into deathcore. So depending on who you talk to, their either a shitty metalcore band or a shitty deathcore band. I personally found their first album (Decimate The Weak) despite all it’s faults, incredibly refreshing, fun and overall an enjoyable experience. Their second album, The Great Stone War was a more mature outing. It gained them a broader audience due to the more technical approach. Let’s see what direction these deathcore trend setters going in with Against The World.

Well, they dropped about 40% of that technical stuff I was just talking about. The drums are still fucking killer, but they sacrificed a bit in the structure department. Songs like Against The World and Drop The Match seem like they were lazily churned out a few years ago. Meanwhile, songs like Refined In The Fire and Built For War boast incredible keys and rippin’ bass sections that eclipse the material in The Great Stone War  tenfold! I’m a bit conflicted…

But once again, Johnny Plague’s vocals are (mostly) top notch. His deathy growls and hardcore belts are still signature, while the blackened screams are still a little iffy. The only vocal choice that I have a real problem with are the goddamn rapcore sections! I swear that if Winds Of Plague dropped this aspect of their sounds, more people would take them seriously. THIS type of thing isn’t helping them at all!

Winds Of Plague has another little quirk that tends to rub people the wrong way, but I don’t mind one bit: guess vocalists. Now, a lot of bands have guest musicians appear in their albums for one reason or another. But for some reason, guest vocalists seem to annoy people. I mean, I can kind of see that here since John Mishima should just fucking join Winds Of plague as their hype-man or something since he’s been on EVERY Winds Of Plague album! Other than that, Martine Stewart (of Terror) makes his second appearance and irritates the fuck out of me for doing so since his only guest work is done in the abysmal track, California (see above link). Drew York of Stray From The Path and For Today’s Mattie Montgomary act as decent reserves for Johnny, but don’t really offer all that much in way of variety. The only guest that adds anything worth giving a damn about would be Jamey Jasta (Kingdom Of Sorrow, Hatebreed, etc…) and his contribution to Built For War.

Oh… and James “The Ultimate Warrior” Hellwig does all the vocals for the track, The Warrior Code. I scratched my head for about an hour after figuring that one out. The track is kinda cool, but it more or less sounds like the ravings of a madman more than an inspirational mantra.

Overall: Against The World is a more than fitting title to this album since Winds Of Plague will more than likely feel like they’re fighting against the world for the rest of their career due to their continuously ghetto metal sections and trendy fashions. But fuck it all if they don’t manage to be entertaining through it all!

7.5/10

Winds Of Plague On Facebook

War from a Harlots Mouth are going to hit the road again in May with Emmure, Winds of Plague and IWrestledABearOnce at The Mosh Lives tour.

Tour Dates:
29.04.11 Germany Köln @ Essigfabrik
30.04.11 Belgium Aarschot @ De Klinker
01.05.11 UK Brighton @ Concorde 2
02.05.11 UK Birmingham @ O2 Academy 2
03.05.11 UK Leeds @ Cockpit
04.05.11 UK Bristol @ O2 Academy 2
05.05.11 UK Manchester @ Club Academy
06.05.11 UK London @ Garage
07.05.11 Holland Eindhoven @ Dynamo
08.05.11 France Paris @ Glazart
09.05.11 Switzerland Zürich @ Abart
10.05.11 Germany München @ Feierwerk
11.05.11 Italy Pinarella Di Cervia @ Rockplanet
12.05.11 Austria Wien @ Viper Room
13.05.11 Germany Berlin @ Lido
14.05.11 Denmark Copenhagen @ The Rock
15.05.11 Sweden Stockholm @ Huset
17.05.11 Finland Helsinki @ Tavastia
19.05.11 Germany Münster @ Skaters Palace
20.05.11 Germany Leipzig @ Conne Island
21.05.11 Germany Stuttgart @ Universum

Genre: Deathcore
Label: Earache Records

Taking several different influences from several different genres and ramming them together into one bag then brutally bludgeoning it to death, And Hell Followed With are pretty damn intense.
This is deathcore to the… uh… core… and as such the guitars are down tuned to Drop-H and palm muted in a chug and the drums are insane, clicky blast beats. There’s also some black metal keyboards, and even some blackened vocals to go with them. Gutterals and pig squeals that would normally be found in a pornogrind or cybergrind song are present, but for whatever reason don’t make me want to kick the vocalist in the face. There’s even hardcore vocals present too!
But while faced with the conventions of the trends in deathcore, And Hell Followed With also whip out some other influence and show it off, be it a classic rock solo done with thrash tones, tremolo picking, or even just a slower doom riff.
In the end, And Hell Followed With have a slightly stale album in Proprioception, but considering the vast amounts of influences that they are displaying and the fact that this is their second as far as I know, I think the next album will be better, and the fourth album will be just killer.
7 out of 10.

And Hell Followed With on MySpace.

Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Deathcore
Label: Siege of Amida Records/Candlelight Records

Right from the first second of this album I was thoroughly impressed. I had to turn my headphones down for once, just from the sheer volume of the first song, “Hours”. Samples, a simple guitar lead, then machine gun drumming with rhythm riffage to match kick in to crush your face.
This continues through  “Grimoire”, a brutal piece of deathcore perfection. I think it’s safe to say that bands like Suicide Silence can pick up this album and use it as a compass, and a textbook, to guide their own deathcore craft. And even Winds of Plague have a thing or two to admire in the keyboards, which are at times blackened as all fuck, which match well with the vocals too.
If you’re a fan of Bleeding Through, Whitechapel, Job for a Cowboy, or the above two bands, check out The Breathing Process’ Odyssey (Un)Dead.
My favourite tracks are “Hours”, “Grimoire”, “Pantheon Unravelling”, and the title track, which is a fairly short instrumental.
8 out of 10.

The Breathing Process on Myspace.

Genre: Deathcore
Label: Century Media

Let’s get this out of the way here and now: I have no idea as to what to classify these guys (and girl) as. I tried saying deathcore in my last review and follow-up interview with vocalist Johnny Plague, but was told “nay”. My second guess? Symphonic, blackened melodic-core death… metal. *huff* I guess it’s your call.

Anyway, I was a huge fan of Decimate The Weak and was stoked silly at the arrival of The Great Stone War. And I’ve got to admit, TGSW doesn’t have as many instant fan favorites as Decimate The Weak but it’s a solid album none the less. It’s more like a thirty-eight minute grandiose war cry! An opus of the oppressed! An anthem of the apocal… you get the point. Johnny P. still rocks the shit out of the mic with his varied vocals (and awe inspiring command of the live audience). And Art Cruz beats the beats the beats like no other (most impressive!). The synthesized siren, Mrs. Kristen Randall rolls the keys with the greatest of ease and creates an atmosphere of hopelessness on the battlefield that then switches out with the emergence of an intense skirmish, brought out by the dual axe attack of the Nicks.

Overall: Call them trendy. Call them posers (I won’t.) Call them whatever the fuck you want. I’m sure they don’t care. The Great Stone War is an epic feeling album that brings you to the frontlines of metal that’s fueled by the flames of youth. Keep this shit coming!!!

8/10

Winds of Plague on MySpace.
Originally posted at E-MetalSpace.