Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 30/09/2016
Label: We Empty Rooms
“Untitle”track CD//DD//LP listing
1).
Grizzly
2).
Don’t Pray For Us
3).
The Kid Was All Wong
4).
Turning Screws
5).
Line Em’ All Up
The Review:
Sludge
metal has not run out of ideas just yet. On its surface, the Australian duo’s
latest “Untitle” could be accused of lacking color. The tones and atmosphere
recall acts like The Melvins or Big Business, a sound hundreds of bands ape.
What sets DEAD
apart is their pacing. The arrangements are exquisitely layered incrementally,
so rather than relying on a droning effect DEAD elects subtle changes in sound or effects
added one at a time to build an ensemble of punishing heaviness. Their latest
record displays an ambitious band on a goal to prove how multi-faceted they
are.
“Untitle” is album two of a four LP set
the band is amusingly calling “The
Trilogy.” It is not abundantly clear how “Untitle” relates to the first record, “Captains of Industry”, but the release continues DEAD’s
brand of sludge metal accompanied by dark abstract themes. The album opens with
“Grizzly”, a track that encompasses
what the band does best while foreshadowing the record as a whole. The track
begins softly and treads toward a noisy climax one sound at a time. The two
halves of the song could not be more dissonant. While the first half uses an eloquently
picked guitar and whispered vocals the second half utilizes shouted
double-tracked vocals, a buzz saw of a bassline, and booming snare. DEAD
has a knack for sounding methodical for one minute and completely unhinged the
next.
The
best example of this formula is on the last track, “Line ‘Em All Up”. As the minutes pass, more and more haunting
noises creep toward the surface of the mix while the vocal harmonies drone on.
The track’s low frequencies grumble at the bottom while the high pitched screeching
guitars aggravate any soothing repetitive qualities that the bass and vocals
provide. The tracks sandwiched between the aforementioned vary with elements of
drone, noise, and heavy riffs. The band transitions through these sounds
seamlessly and combines them for a powerful overall sound. The arrangements on
“Untitle” are so meticulously
well-crafted and varied it allows all five tracks to distinguish themselves
clearly while contributing to an obvious overall sonic theme.
On
“Untitle”, DEAD attempts a little bit of
everything and works to see how they can make these different sounds cohesive.
Similar to a release like “Lysol” or
“Amplifier Worship” there are a lot
of different elements and genres explored on a track by track basis and DEAD
do all of them pretty well. Ambitious releases can sometimes feel bloated or
disjointed, but DEAD
avoid this by keeping the tracks relatively short (no track eclipses ten
minutes) and track list short as well. All of the material feels essential to
this release and contributes to the greater whole which is a dirty,
ostentatious, diverse release.
Band info: facebook
