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Deadlock: Earth.Revolt

German melodic metallers Deadlock play a signature mix of melodic black and death metal intertwined with a good dose of gothic darkness. Far from 'the beauty and the beast' kind of stuff, they still use some nice female vocals to add another dimension to their music mixed with dark keyboard tones that surround their successful twin guitar work. However, the female vocals are used sparingly only, as on their 8-minute mammoth opening piece, "10,000 Generations in Blood", entering the song after the highly aggressive scream vocals delivered by Johannes Prem, and killer tremelo picked guitar parts. A nifty melodic lead harmony and atmospheric keyboards are juxtaposed towards the end of the track which wrap it up perfectly.

The vocals are mostly screamed black metal singing, occasionally changing between low grunting and soft, almost poppy female clean singing. The music is very melodic throughtout; excellent palm muted riffs abound songs like "Everlasting Pain" and "More Tragedies to Come", often supported by melodic keyboard and piano lines that give the listener a moment to catch their breath. The songs are generally fast, but far from mindless speed. Drummer Tobias Graf employs a wide style of techniques going from fiery kick-drums to multi-rhythm driven beats on "The Year of the Crow". There is also a driving bass force on the same track, which is one of the finest compositions on this disc.

The female vocalist returns to the mold on the emotional "Awakened by Sirens" - note the ending of this song. It's a beautiful finale with a sorrowful coda for solo piano. A similar approach can be heard on the album's last song, "Harmonic", with all female vocals sung over a soothing piano melody. Earth.Revolt is the kind of album every melodic metal fan should look into, if they can get past the extreme vocals.

Track Listing

  1. Demonic (Tonus Diabolus)
  2. 10,000 Generations in Blood
  3. The Year of the Crow
  4. Everlasting Pain
  5. Earth.Revolt
  6. More Tragedies to Come
  7. Awakened by Sirens
  8. Kingdom of the Dead
  9. May Angels Come
  10. Harmonic

Added: May 24th 2005
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score:
Related Link: Deadlock
Hits: 3546
Language: english

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Deadlock: Earth.Revolt
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2005-05-24 10:04:19
My Score:

Deadlock's Earth.Revolt is an impressive new release from this German melodic death/black metal band. Utlilizing loads of symphonic keyboards and ethereal clean female vocals to go along with their blazing brand of extreme metal adds a great element to their sound. While the lead vocals of Johannes Prem are squarely in the death/black metal style heard on albums by bands like Dark Tranquility, Children of Bodom, Borknagar, Hypocrisy, or Dimmu Borgir (good company to be in as far as I am concerned), they way the vocals are mixed they are a little low in the mix, which allows for the twin guitar attack and the keyboards to really rise to the forefront. There's plenty of catchy and heavy riffing going on here-just listen to the lovely harmony guitars on the speedy "The Year of the Crow", or the gandiose sounds of "10,000 Generations in Blood". Of course, things don't get much better than on the symphonic yet crushing title track, complete with tasty riffs and sweeping keys. The use of the female vocals adds a nice touch on "Awakened By Sirens", as they offset the black metal voice with a little touch of Nightwish-like beauty.

This is a very strong release, and one of the surprise metal releases so far in 2005. I see big things for this band if they keep this direction going, especially if they allow Ms. Weniger more of a spotlight next time around. Recommended!



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