In this Unknown Music Thursday blog, we are going to get into a band that comes out of the northern part of Canada. The band is called First Reign and the record is “As The Dead Lead The Dead.” I have played their songs when I had a radio show on www.stfu.fm before the station shut down. I have talked to these guys from their twitter feed and they are really nice and down to earth dudes. I have been wanting to do a review on their record on my blog but I have been so far behind. I now have a chance to do it and I am going to write it. There is not much history on this death metal from Canada. I know they are working on their second record. Let us get into the first record.
Track List:
Inception
The opening track is “Inception.” This track is intro to the real opening track. I have to say I love the music from the guitars. The drumming is pretty good. I love how they are using the bass on this song. It is a nice build up song. I feel this song is great display of an opening song. Most bands should take some notes from this song and band on how to write a good opening track.
This Ghost Of Ours
I love the insane and in your face drumming. It is a nice step up for the fast pace music. The guitar and bass playing is really good. I really love the singing on this song. They have written some nice lyrics. There is a nice guitar solo in the first quarter of the song. I love the lead singer’s death metal vocals. It is pretty than most death metal singers. There is another pretty good short guitar solo almost to the half way point of the song. There is a nice groove to this song. I love the music change in the back half of the song. I love the singers screaming. There is a nice long extended guitar solos towards the end. I love the trade-off from the two players.
Where The Ocean Meets The Sky
I love the drumming and bass playing at the beginning. I love the nice guitar riff with the guitar solo over the top. This is some awesome music. I love the singing from the singer. I love the switch off from clean to death metal singing. There is a nice guitar solo in the first quarter of the song. The drumming so far on this record is off the charts. I would put him in the same class as Richard Christy of Charred Walls Of The Damn and Iced Earth. I love the music change in about the half way point. Nice touch on the acoustic guitar with some nice singing over the top. This music on this song is mind-blowing. First Reign took the idea of Opeth to the next level. I love the guitar works towards the end of the song. There is some nice exiting guitar solos at the end.
Wretched Flesh
I love the drumming and guitar work at the beginning. The bass playing is simple and there is nothing wrong with that writing. I love the singing and the lyrics. There is a nice pace on this song. There is a nice guitar solo in the first quarter of the song. I love the change in the music about the half way point of the song. There is some awesome singing about this point of the song. I love how they pick up the heaviest of the music after that point. I love how they are ending this song. It is a very good ending.
Thistle
Here is another intro song to the ending track of this great record. I love the acoustic guitars. The drumming is calming but still heavy enough to be a metal song. I love the dancing bass line with an awesome acoustic guitar solo over the top of the music.
As The Dead Lead The Dead
I love how the acoustic guitar playing at the beginning of the song but yet echoes the intro song. I love the heavy guitar and the screaming vocals in the main part of the song. I love the melody and the singing on this song. There is a some insane drumming on this song. I love the music on this record. I love the guitar solo towards the mid-point of the song. The drumming in the last-minute of the song is off the charts. I love the distance effects on the music at the end of the song. This is a perfect ending to the song and the record.
Line Up:
- Russ O’Shea – Bass
- Sean Lang – Drums
- Dallas Erickson – Lead Vocals
- Chris Holtz – Guitar
- Ryan Macdonald – Guitar
Here is their website and twitter addresses:
Website: www.firstreign.com
Twitter: @firstreignband
In closing, I enjoyed the music on this record and I find myself going back and re-listening to this record at least every two weeks. I love the length of these songs. They are long and have a ton of thought behind them. The drumming from Sean is off the charts. This guy practiced a ton and he is extremely talented drummer. I love the bass playing from Russ. I am a bass player and I could not picture myself playing that fast. I would have to work myself up to it. This rhythm selection makes this band what it is as far as music side. The guitar playing is off the charts from Chris and Ryan. The guitar solos are well written. The singing from Dallas is really good. I love his death metal vocals and his clean vocals. First Reign taken the idea of Opeth and took it to the next level. I really love this band and I cannot wait to see what their next record is going to be like. I highly recommend you checking out this band. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
Cheers!
Bill DJ Weiser
Email: djweiser13@comcast.net
Twitter: @djweiser
DJ Weiser 