Dead, The
Deathsteps to Oblivion
Reviewed By Simon Milburn
Published 03 December, 2014
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Five long, slow paced steps to your destruction
Australian readers out there may recall the somewhat legendary Brisbane metal band from the 1990’s called Misery. Whilst they may not have conquered the world, they were one of Australia’s longest running death metal bands. The group’s skull crushing take on death metal would become the blue print for the post-Misery band guitarist Scott Edgar would create, dubbed The Dead. Alongside Misery alumni, The Dead’s also features a former member of Obfuscate Mass in vocalist Mike Yee and a former member of Beijing Tank as well. Edgar would leave the group three years later but the template was cast in stone and The Dead have since released two brutal slabs of doom laden death metal in 2007’s self titled debut and 2010’s Ritual Executions. Four years on and album number three is making its way to the masses via Transcending Obscurity and in typical fashion, this one too will devastate your senses.
Where a lot of death metal acts rely on bludgeoning riffs and thundering drums, The Dead strip it all back. The riffs will melt your face but not because of their blistering pace. It is the raw simplicity of the heavy, sludge ridden riffs that this trio unloads. The opening cut, “Maze of Fire” is a classic example of why this works so bloody well. Crushing power chord riffs that dominate is one thing, but when they are delivered at a pace a-la doomsters Pallbearer and Yob, there’s a whole new level of crushing weight added to these already hefty riffs.
Within that atmosphere of all those thick, dense, sombre guitars and slower than pedestrian paced tracks, there is a lot of room for heavy emotion. Deathsteps to Oblivion may be equal parts melancholy, sludge, death and doom, but it’s always, undoubtedly heavy. A big part of it all is the production. From the textured - for want of a better word - lead guitar parts, to the prominent drum tones and cymbal crashes all the way through to the in your face guitar sound that oozes fat mid range tones, the end result is pure aural demolition of the senses.
It may have been a few years between drinks for The Dead, but they have returned with one hell of a vengeance with Deathsteps to Oblivion. The band’s lineage speaks volumes and now with album number three under their belt, it’s apparent they have a clear vision of what they want to unleash unto the masses and Deathsteps to Oblivion is the product of that. Clear, concise, absolute devastation - this release is testament to that which the group have honed to near perfection this time around.
Transcending Obscurity
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