German act Deadlock have undergone quite a bit of changes over the years. Starting out as a pretty impressive melodic death metal band that injected plenty of gothic & progressive elements in their music, with the addition of second vocalist Sabine Scherer a few years later their sound slowly started to morph into more commercial waters. The Arsonist is the bands brand new release for Napalm Records, and sees Sabine's vocals more in the forefront, often battling with John Gahlert's metalcore styled growls but for the most part really stealing the spotlight. Many of the progressive elements of the past have been replaced by pure metalcore, pop, and gothic tones. Sabine has a lovely voice, soaring to the heavens on "The Great Pretender" and cutting through Gahlert's venomous growl on the catchy "Dead City Sleepers". The title track is a lovely symphonic pop metal song, infused with some moments of extreme metal, featuring some well placed keyboards and chunky guitar riffs, while "Darkness Divine" starts off as a slamming metalcore jaunt before throwing some techno beats and ambient passages at the listener. "As We Come Undone" also has a techno-metal feel, and contains some lovely vocals from Sabine, who is all on her own on the soaring, tender "Hurt", supported by symphonic keyboards and a blazing guitar solo. The band dips into some epic sounds on "The Final Storm", and go the melodic, gothic metal route on the engaging cover of the Bronski Beat hit "Small Town Boy".
The real shame here on The Arsonist is that musically the band dips into generic metalcore way too often; half the album features some stunning, symphonic passages, and even the techno beats and pop melodies really work well, especially with Sabine's lovely vocals flowing through them. It's almost as if Deadlock are going through an identity crisis, and can't decide to continue on with the In Flames/Soilwork influenced melodeath/metalcore past or dive headfirst into more commercial waters with Sabine at the forefront. If you ask me, she's pure gold, and the band would be well advised to run with her as the focus of the band. Still, this is a pretty damn good album all things considered.
Track Listing
1. The Great Pretender
2. I'm Gone
3. Dead City Sleepers
4. The Arsonist
5. Darkness Divine
6. As We Come Undone
7. Hurt
8. The Final Storm
9. Small Town Boy (Bronski Beat cover)
10. My Pain
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
