Funebrarum - The Sleep of Morbid Dreams (2009)

Cyclone Empire seems to be headed in the right direction as they snap up tasteful old school death metal acts and issue records like this sophomore full-length from New Jersey's Funebrarum. If you fancied their split with Sweden's Interment a few years ago you'll know what to expect here: brutal old school 90s death metal with both Swedish and Floridian influence. Gnarled compositions of utter darkness and conquering grooves, aimless and seizure-inducing lead work, and vocals that can unearth those long committed to the earth for a corpse incursion into the world of the fickle living. You'd expect members of Evoken and Abazagorath to know their shit: you would be correct.

The Sleep of Morbid Dreams is a monolith of pure brutality, real fucking death metal. "Perish Beneath" opens with a creepy horror sample before unhinging destructive Bolt Thrower style rhythms under a decrepit winding melody. The track picks up as Daryl Kahan's low register pulverized the living flesh into a mash of writhing maggots and guts. "Grave Reaper" is like Incantation meets early Entombed meets more Bolt Thrower, repulsive grooves which can wither your speakers. At this point the album is already superior to its predecessor Beneath the Columns of Abandoned Gods, but there are still five tracks to go, led off by "Beyond Recognition", a festive and pummelling grind machine. "Cursed Eternity" goes for the mystique through some atmospheric chords and melodies, though the song is still sentenced to shred flesh with some bombastic faster rhythms. "Incineration of Mortal Flesh" lunges forward at a lopsided groove, like a bulldozer through a graveyard, unaware of what it just stirred up. "Nex Monumentum" offers some brief acoustics and somber collapsing melodies before transforming into what might be the best song on the album. The closer "Among the Exiled" creates atmosphere with dark ambience before corroding all arteries with its aural warfare grooves.

I have to admit I was truly impressed here. This is assured to darken all skies to gray if not the blackest of nights. The album captures and maintains the grim aesthetics of earlier death metal, where brutality was delivered through simple punishment and a sincere, squirming hatred. This should appease any fan of the retro wave of death metal, and it's combination of influences and crushing production should score them some recognition beyond that niche. One of the best new US bands I've heard lately in the vein of roots death metal which is proud to wear the name, far superior to the noodly spastic tech shit so many bands are phoning in to impress their girlfriends and combat their attention defecit disorders.

Only death is real.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://www.funebrarum.com/

Chris Cornell - Scream (2009)

Hearing the golden throat of the Evergreen State try his dice in the hip-hop/R&B market seems like an absolute disaster on paper, and in fact it's quite near a disaster in its execution. Chris Cornell is one of the most distinct American male vocalists we have. His legacy with Soundgarden was spotless, and though Audioslave and his first solo album were mediocre at best, it wasn't for the lack of a good voice. Carry On, however, was quite good, a more accessible take on his final years in Soundgarden. I also loved his Bond theme "You Know My Name".

So what we have here was originally a remix project, a team-up between Cornell and R&B/pop mogul Timbaland, that took on its own life and turned into a slew of new originals. Timbaland's influence here is obvious, you could have just as easily used Ginuwine or Justin Timberlake's vocals over some of these tracks and not had much of a difference. Some of the tracks just flat out suck. I mean who wants to hear Chris Cornell, who once fronted brilliant albums like Ultramega OK and Louder than Love, chanting:

That bitch ain't a part of me
No, that bitch ain't a part of me
I said no, that bitch ain't a part of me
No, that bitch ain't a part of me
I said no, that bitch ain't a part of me
No, that bitch ain't a part of me
I said no, that bitch ain't a part of me
No, that bitch ain't a part of-part of-part of me
I love the girl, I'm lovin' the dress she wears
She's got a hold, got a hold of me neck, oh yeah
I wanna cry, the way that she moves
I want the girl, but not what she's going through

Who exactly thought this would be a good idea? Is Cornell desperate? This holds true for a number of the tracks on Scream, but here's the kicker...which I admit with great trepidation. There are a few moments where this team-up actually *clicks*. "Take Me Alive" has a nice Middle Eastern spin to it despite it's layman hip hop beats which any 3 year old could program in 5 minutes, driven home by Cornell's scintillating mid register vocals and a chorus which ALMOST recalls the rock. "Long Gone" is an extremely fetching love song despite the Beverly Hills 90210/Melrose Place emo guitar line which breaks forth in its chorus. This latter is the best song on the album and hopefully its used as a single. "Climbing Up the Walls" is also pretty nice, a moody atmospheric. "Never Far Away" is like a Kelly Clarkson song but with Cornell. It works.

The album is true Timbaland, I do like his use of very 80s pop synths amidst the more modern and robust beats. Say what you want about the host of shitty, trendy artists he has produced, but the guy has an ear for sounds that stick with you. The biggest distraction is all the chorus and R&B effects used on Cornell's voice, often these fail. You cannot contain this man's vocals with studio wizardry. He's got one of the most glorious throats in the goddamned world. Badmotorfinger, anyone? Yeah. It doesn't belong over a cheap throwaway get up! jump up! pop track like...err..."Get Up".

In the end, Scream doesn't entirely suck, it's an interesting collaboration. But I truly hope the man returns to form at some point, as he seems to be entertaining an ever downwards spiral of bankrupt ideas. I just feel I have to point out the obvious.

Chris Cornell.
Seattle.
Shake out that Hollywood, California crack.
Seattle.
Take it back, man.
Take it back.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.chriscornell.com/

Svarttjern - Misanthropic Path of Madness (2009)

Svartjjern is a straightforward Norse black metal assault with HansFyrste (of Ragnarok) on vocals. The style here is nothing you haven't heard before if you're into bands like 1349, Nidingr or Swedish bands like Dark Funeral and Mork Gryning, but it's decent for a debut. The shift between its blasting forte and slower thrashing chug sections is pretty much guaranteed to incur some whiplash in its listeners. For the rest, there's the eyecatching, wrecked corpse of its cover snuff model, spattered in dark blood.

"Code Human" blasts forth from the crossgates of hopelessness, breaking down into a mid-paced thrasher over the steady double bass. "Ancient Shadows Revelation" continues this stream of thought with a continued double bass through its verses, picking up into some ravenous chords below HansFyrste's deep throat spew. The album's stronger numbers include the savage and thrashing "Stillborn Acolyte" with its taps and trills amidst the thrust and blast; "Passions of 7" flows like a river of bloodied grace and memory before breaking once again into the mid-paced chugging; "Finally the World Shall Shape" opens with a sinister riff worthy of vintage Slayer.

The mix is dense and dark, but all instruments cut through like sawblades, their sharp steel teeth filed perfectly by the brutal vocal delivery. Several of the songs have the same formula: blast to rolling double-bass thrash, then blast again, and so forth. This doesn't make them bad per se, but it does feel like a rehash of the same continuous idea and gets a little old. I'm more a fan of Ragnarok (and they're working on something new) but this is a decent album which should tide over fans of 1349, Myrkskog, etc until they produce some new material.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.svarttjern.tk

Vanmakt - Ad Luciferi Regnum (2009)

Vanmakt deliver their second outburst with a mix as thick as thieves at the bazaar; loud and resonant and in your face, pretty much the antithesis of the bedroom black metal majority. The guitar tones are both vibrant and caustic; the drums are like a battering ram being thrust against the gates of heaven.

"The Second Key" opens with a haunting acoustic and bluesy lead melody, soon smothered in chugging, death growl/chants and eerie female wails. Then the warfare begins as the drums grind angel wings into abyssal dust. M. Svensson's vocals are a little louder and more abrasive than I'd prefer, more on this later. "Brethren of Lucifer" focuses on some mid-paced thrashing breakdowns to offset the nihilistic blasting. "Endless Myth" has a nice break where you can hear the blasting and bass and then the guitar volley slowly lifts in volume, quite cool. "Re-incarnating Hatred" is just monstrously sick and twisted, hyper black metal, Satanic bass grooving through the vitriolic mesh of octave chords and battery. Other cool tracks include the title with its use of graceful yet horrific melody over the blasts; "Id Xiii Inferni" which is another pure holocaust of unrelenting, hellish wind; "The Ascension" being a nice break from the otherwise very fast album, this is perhaps the best track on the album with some nice atmosphere too it, again the light use of female vocals.

Vanmakt doesn't have the most original of sounds, drawing from the influences of well-produced Swedish and Norse black metal. Still, their sound is pretty rare for the scene today, a fusion of devilish grace and percussive terror. The biggest obstacle for me was the vocals, they had that over the top feel you get from some other artists (usually deathcore or metalcore, but in this case it reminded me a little of Fernando's black metal voice in Moonspell). He doesn't have a bad voice, mind you, but had these been laid back in the mix a fraction, I would have become more immersed in the songs. Otherwise, the music is quite moody and well constructed, and if you favor the professional black metal sound then this is certainly worth a spin.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://vanmakt.com/

Mortuus Infradaemoni - Imis Avernis (2009)

The band totally had me at the cover art here, for I truly love to stare at labyrinthine abyssal cityscapes while I am listening to black metal, dark ambient and other forms of 'extremity'. It all goes back to sessions of Into the Pandemonium worship for me. So I admit that it may have prepped me up for something more atmospheric than the rather bare bones, savage strategy at play.

Mortuus Infradaemoni are a German black metal band and they play a lot like many of their peers: straightforward, with no perks or gimmicks, black metal in the vein of Mayhem, Dark Funeral and others who keep it real. There are only two members of the band, Nathaniel and Profanatitas, both formerly of fellow Germans Lunar Aurora. The tracks seem to alternate between very mundane and dull, to face-shredding misanthropic purism. For example, first track "Obscuritas Ubique Et In Aeternum" barrels through almost 10 minutes of blast beat/speed picked repetition without ever truly invoking any ferocity. Yet "Darkland", not much different in style, is more effective with its haunting sneers and a few subtle chord shifts which flayed my flesh clean. "Imis Avernis", the title track, centers on some slower chug riff that aren't very good, and doesn't get much better even when it picks up speed. "Bastard" and "Merihim" deliver a pure photocopier black metal beatdown, moving at rapid pace and reminiscent of much of the loyaly to its core influences that perpetuated much of the mid to late 90s scene. "Der Tod" is another devastator.

The album's sound is effectively raw and the band certainly comes across as a horde of savage barbarians who take no compromise as they offer libations to the occult. There aren't any real surprise riffs that come out and snag you, the entire effort is quite predictable but this is not always a bad thing. I can't recall the band's previous album in order to make any comparisons, but I can only recommend this to fans of 100% straightforward black metal of the grimmest, no hope variety.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.colddimensions.de/ (label)

Sons of Seasons - Gods of Vermin (2009)

Sons of Seasons is a new project formed by keyboardist Oliver Palotai (Kamelot, Circle II Circle, Blaze, etc) with an emphasis on a darker side to power-prog. If ever there were a truly 'gothic' flavor to progressive metal, it would sound a lot like this. The song structures are familiar, with lots of excellent keyboard playing, and a constant interplay between metallic grooves and softer prog rock tones. The result isn't the most memorable, but he's assembled a good lineup and there are some flashes of brilliance in a few tracks.

Metalium's air raid siren Henning Basse handles the vocal tracks, and he does so with a grittier edge than normal. There are still the hints of his crystalline delivery which he subtly supplants throughout the material, but for the most part he remains in a lower register that better suits the concept. Silent Force bassist Jürgen Steinmetz and former Blaze skin-beater Daniel Schild flesh out the lineup, and together they wander across a dozen tracks of introspective, melodic and razor edged metal. There is a lot of piano here, but Palotai excels at atmosphere and the intro "The Place Where I Hide" sets the tone for the entirety of the album. The title track "Gods of Vermin" runs the gamut of material from the heavier verse riffs to the quiet breakdowns and a big chorus where Basse busts out the mid-ranged pipes. I found some of the better tracks on the album to be its most ferocious, like the blazing "Belial's Tower" or "Dead Man's Shadow", but the band can incorporate balladry or epic, slower moving numbers such as "Third Moon Rising" to great effect, and the album balances its delivery enough from track to track that one never becomes bored. There is an occasional use of vocal layering or female vocals which present themselves nicely. The themes of the songs fall on historical subjects or the madness of men and civilization.

I don't have many complaints. The album simmers in a top notch professional mix, though the guitars could use a little more crunch to liven things up (keeping in mind that Palotai is not foremost a guitar player). Certain tracks are a lot catchier than others, but the album is consistent to its theme, you feel this almost insane asylum aesthetic throughout which recalls Savatage, Circle II Circle, Evergrey and other brooding conceptual prog/metal bands. Sons of Seasons are pretty original, this should work in their favor if they continue this project. Gods of Vermin may not be a masterpiece debut, but it wears its effort and talent on its sleeve. If you're seeking out some new prog metal and favor the sounds of any band I listed in this review, give it a listen.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.sonsofseasons.com/

Unanimated - In the Light of Darkness (2009)

It seems the forgotten Swedish titans of the 90s continue to crawl forth from the woodwork of their celebrated scene to rekindle the early fires of black/death metal and show the new blood just how it's done. This was the case with Seance and is now also so for Unanimated. Though the band's previous albums In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead and Ancient God of Evil were cult classics of aggressive melodic death metal, they never garnered the success of a band like Dissection and fell by the wayside as the genre shifted more towards the modern crop of highly melodic death (In Flames, Dark Tranquillity) or flag-waving At the Gates clones (early Soilwork, etc). After 14 years the band returns with their third opus, and it's more than a match for either of its predecessors.

In the Light of Darkness sounds devastating, a crushing effort which offers both yearning melodies and pure Swedish death metal bordering on some blackish tendencies. The haunting instrumental intro "Ascend with the Stench of Death" serves as but a teaser for the spider weblike opening riffs and dense atmospherics that precurse "Retribution in Blood". Winding verse melodies, and a bridge riff shimmering with evil as it bears the weight of its six-string archways, declare WE HAVE RETURNED. "The Endless Beyond" opens with a creepy and beautiful melodic picking while the chords crash in like a bleak abandoned vessel upon a churning sea. "Diabolic Voices" nails the coffin with a mid-pace, explosive snarls erupt over driving blast beats and daemonic chords. The title track plods methodically forward through an array of excellent melodies to cap off the chugging mutes and slowly grinding chrods. Other tracks of note include the glorious "Enemy of the Sun", the ghastly tones of "Serpent's Curse" and the closing acoustics of "Strategia Luciferi".

The album sounds quite incredible, the chords attain molten depths while the acoustics and leads simmer and soar through the bombastic strides. The band is out in full force yet emphasis is focused solely on the crafting of atmospheric rhythms and bloodsoaked, simple aggression. In short, it's not a far cry from their previous efforts. Just resurrected and re-invigorated for the 21st century. Unanimated prove once more that they're worth your time, and this album is a no-brainer for fans of Swedish black/death metal ala Dissection, Sacramentum, etc.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.myspace.com/unanimated08

Cobalt - Gin (2009)

In the midst of the metal community collectively blowing their loads (or shaking their heads) over the new Mastodon, Isis, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Candlemass releases, it's understandable some albums may fly under the radar. Gin from avant-garde black metallers Cobalt is one of these releases, and if you have any interest in the nastier and more creative side of metal you should do yourself a favor and cop this disc at your first opportunity.

Beginning inauspiciously enough, the title track to the album could be the intro to any number of radio rock songs... if it weren't for the underlying current of doom that you can feel. This subterranean serpent soon makes its presence felt as “Gin” launches into a tom-tom beat and messy, sloppy distorted guitars take the stage. Cobalt doesn't quite have your full attention, at least until the blastbeats and black metal wails come front and center, and now the snake is staring you dead on, venom dripping from its fangs, orange light reflected off the sodium streetlamps to your back. Mutated, tattered jangle-pop chords put through a blender like a corpsepaint laden Origo-era Burst lazily flop around, leaving sick slime behind them as McSorely belts out some heartfelt and truly pained screeching. Cobalt flips the script again and throws in the velvety 1990's slide groove hardcore riffs ala Helmet. The attack does not let up, intensifying with faster strumming and double bass, until the mournful “Dry Body” comes to break it all up, the vocals coming from the walls of a deserted cathedral with haunting tribal verses echoing and destructive, buzzsaw choruses that sound like a dark, alternate-universe version of Tool.

This is just the beginning of the album. The rest of the album lies in wait for the listener. It's going to lull you into security with the quiet and dark parts, gently running razor wire over your neck, and then proceed to decapitate you just when you think you can relax. While their closest progressive kin Wolves in the Throne Room and Nachtmystium favor a bit of ambience and psychedelia, respectively, Cobalt instead goes for the grit. Wolves in the Throne Room might take you through some dark, foggy forest at midnight with a full moon, Cobalt has you drug behind a truck on a dirt road at midnight. The feel of Gin is uniquely American through and through, and as a result the theatrics and mysticism found in a lot of black metal is absent. The concept behind Gin are the bands literary heroes, Hunter S. Thompson and Ernest Hemingway. The spirit of the two authors is found in Gin, but it's the moreso their influence on the band from the get-go than any sort of attempt to throw the two legends into an audio form like Mastodon did with Moby Dick on Leviathan.

Elements of Neur-Isis-styled crescendo buildups, Tool-esque chug, the abrasive dark magic of black metal, crustcore, hardcore, and even modern rock are dashed about a sonic field and the listener is shot through this field, bouncing from style to style like a pinball. It's never jarring, although it can be sudden. Cobalt has managed to find a way to make their album pummeling, emotionally charged, genre-straddling, and protean all while placing their menacing patchwork on the same corroded fabric throughout the album. Even the closer, “Stew Craven/...”, which is nothing more than a slave chant and hammering, sounds appropriate.

This album is not perfect. There are some small sections where it feels like Wunder lets the beats kind of go. I get he was probably aiming for it, but they tend to break up the tempo of the songs. The 3 minute “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and the 2 minute “Throat” could've probably either been cut down to 30 second intervals or just simply absorbed into some other songs. Both of them start out promising enough, especially the awesomely moody Blue Oyster Cult-ish “Throat”, but they tend to overstay their welcome.

One of the more interesting things about Cobalt is vocalist Sergeant Phil McSorely serving overseas in the Persian Gulf for the U.S. Army. While a lot of black metal frontmen contend they know about suffering, tragedy, war, and the ungodliness that can come from humanity, McSorely is one of them that I believe. He's a cav scout, one of the guys who goes out from the wire and sees the kind of action that send a lot of men into the loony bin. Being in the service myself, I salute McSorely, and the authenticity of his words is almost palpable to me. This guy means every fucking word, no hollow symbolism or clichéd stock Hollywood run-off. This is the real deal. This is war metal.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10]

www.myspace.com/stinktown666

Psyopus - Bad Senses (2009)

Tweedle tweedle bwonk bang dwong dwong tweedle tweedle chugga eee chugga eee chugga eee skreeeeee.

What the fuck did I just listen to?

No, I don't mean I didn't understand Chris Arp's raging noodle-wall of guitar voodoo, accompanied by meth-riddled tangental bass noodle from Michael Horn, and the almost mechanically precise drumming from Jason Bauer. I love me some technical worship, and of all the bands on earth (Even you, Origin), nobody defines technical-for-technicals-sake quite like Psyopus. What I mean by “What the fuck did I just listen to” is that, after each listen of Bad Senses, I completely forget what I just listened to... but I kinda think it was pretty cool... I think.

It could be argued that Chris Arp is the most technically proficient guitarist in the world, and I wouldn't disagree with that statement. It could also be stated that on this album, the single best technical bass and drum performances ever have been laid down, and I could see some merit in that assessment. The dextrous and precise way these three gentlemen display their dedication to their craft of instrumental virtuosity is self-evident, and anyone who worships at the Altar of Li or Malmsteen because of their callous-chipping stringplay has yet to hear this band. The ridiculously fast tremelo picking leads way to chunks of ether shot out at all angles to dissonant bits being played off of sections of the fretboard I don't think anyone has used yet, ever, all at light speed with barely anything resembling a break. Bass and guitar often play off each other like some off-kilter sonic game of Hot Potato. Snare rolls are ungodly-tight, and the variety of drum beats here is superhuman. The result? Caustic, alkaline hardcore and technical death interwoven and covered with an avant-garde sheen.

What's most interesting is the dynamics used on the album. Instead of quiet/noisy, or melodic/dissonant, or even fast/slow, there seems to be a gradient scale of just how fucked up they can make sections. The intro to “X and Y”, for instance, would be a weird piece for any other band to use in their songs... for Psyopus, it's the closest thing to sanity they get to on the entire recording. After that? Ever seen the movie Eraserhead?

What has been sacrificed to the gods in order for these people to play like this? Well, in a word: Songwriting. There are numerous bands out there who fall under the same umbrella as Psyopus. Behold... the Arctopus, Capsule, The Dillinger Escape Plan. All of them are noisy and inaccessible (to varying degrees), all of them have unconventional song structuring and tooth-chipping, immediate ferocity, but I can recall things from the other three. If I'm trying to recall something from Bad Senses, despite over a dozen spins, I have to put the album back on. And even then whatever I just listened to slides out of my head when I put something more interesting on.

Psyopus continues to amaze people by their ability to shred where no one has shredded before, and as long as that's their schtick I can see them continuing to be a novelty act. Listen to this album for the amazing skill, I recommend you do so. However, like a kid who can do six hundred flips in the air off of the uneven bars but is unable to stick the landing, I'm going to have to go with a...

Verdict: Indifference [5/10] (Whiz bang!)

www.myspace.com/psyopus

Mistaken Element - Mind Over Matter (2009)

Seeking modern thrash with progressive tendencies, and ability to groove without diving deeply into the math metal or crappy nu-crop of bands? Mistaken Element has found the answer with their sophomore effort; a bludgeoning balance of technical thrash chops, interesting song structures and brutal, blunt vocals still capable of holding a melody within schizophrenic layers.

"Lost" sets the album off with dense, chugging triplets as Yann Ligner barks his meaty and oppressive vocals. The verse transforms into a lattice of thrashing ferocity, giving way for a melodic chorus full of atmospheric chords and some cleaner vocals. "Mind Over Matter" launches with a seriously excellent, repetetive thrash/groove. Some of the riffing recalls Testament, but modernized. "The Chosen One" lurches with a sick breakdown: limbs will be broken to this song at some point. "Save Me" has a slightly math pace to it, point blank chugging that explodes into a Prong-like groove. "My Chapter Ends" features another of their slinky and mesmerizing grooves, occasionally channeling a bit of countrymen Gojira. Other tracks of note: the mostly instrumental "No Sound Disturbs the Silence" for its tranquil acoustic flow, and the chaotic, hammering "Duality".

Yet another example of how France is starting to dominate the world of modern, grooving thrash focused intensely on the simple punishment offered through its delivery and tone. Alongside Gojira and Outcast this is one of the better bands I've heard pushing the style, though Mistaken Element have a pure thrash foundation. They are capable of cleaner chorus parts without coming off too cheesy like a lot of the metalcore crap out there. The songs here are consistent and the album is well worth your time if you favor thinking man's metal with pit appeal.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://mistaken.element.free.fr/