The Weeping Willow consist of Garo (guitar), Marco (bass), JR (drums), Geno (vocals), and Elias (lead guitar). The band delivers a sound that takes us back to the mid-late 80s when death and thrash metal bands thrived; fast drums, heavy riffs, and insane solos. You can notice influences from bands such as Slayer, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, and Death. The guitar solos by Elias are fantastic! One can take notice of that in his solos on Seeds of Deceit and Tyrant of the Fall. The lyrics are written by Garo and Geno; both do a great job! The content of the lyrics can be considered political/social protest, and, on a more specific note, related to the current situation in Lebanon. Seeds of Deceit provides a mind-blowing lyrics, “Blood and hatred grows from the womb, Never to leave us till we join the tomb.”However, one exception to that lyrical theme would be “Craving Whore”. It’s almost as if the tongue-in-cheek content could be somewhat inspired by Cannibal Corpse or Death’s “Scream Bloody Gore”.

Geno has a great vocal range In “The 3rd Portal”, the listener experiences low gutturals to high screams! This is The Weeping Willow’s second full-length album, and they are currently recording a third one! Overall, The 3rd Portal is a great album and certainly blends in the best of the pioneering death metal bands into a CD. The Weeping Willow is one of the very few bands of today who can legitimately call themselves a Death Metal band.

I give The 3rd Portal a 5/7.Visit The Weeping Willow on

Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/wwillow