One of the older and more unsung extreme metal bands to come out of North America, Virginia-based Deceased issued ‘Luck Of The Corpse’ in 1991, playing death metal in the most primitive of fashions, in ways not too dissimilar to the likes of Autopsy and Impetigo. The common perception of a musical aesthetic often dictates to the more automative listener that anything that bares an adherence to or authenticity that speaks ‘simplicity’ this conveys the perception that nothing unique is to be expected, and in the case of death metal that it conveys no sense of originality or otherwise is quickly assumed to be something that breaks no ground.
Deceased’s full-length debut serves to shatter a couple of myths, and whilst firmly rooted to the aesthetical mould of death metal’s oldest school, drummer/vocalist King Fowley’s taste for eclecticism makes itself clear in abrasive compositions. The influence of progressive metallers such as Voivod and Prong come through in varied sequences of riff patterns that use a variety of strumming techniques, from low end death/thrash melodic motifs to discordances that have nuances of discordance that also was prevalent on the likes of ‘Killing Technology’ and ‘Dimension Hatross’. The drums are very impressive, sounding very upfront in the mix, and King Fowley’s vocals are that of an animated, puking corpse. His execution and hitting of the skins is quite direct and barbaric like his fellow instrumentalist Chris Reifert of Autopsy, though has a much more varied sense of rhythmic dynamism and interchange that works in solid cohesion with the dense yet flexible musical dimension that this band craft for themselves.
And also the cover picture from Bava’s “Black Sabbath”, a nasty surprise to see after watching the film.
Comment by Morbid_lad — August 10, 2010 @ 01:17
So, totally unrelated to Deceased, but… Are you guys planning on any sort of “albums of the year” piece for 2009? It would be interesting to see your picks…
Comment by Jake — August 11, 2010 @ 15:52
Jake. Thanks for the idea, maybe there should be a retrospective. I know many of us liked for example “Engram”, “Firmament”, “Black Future”, “Mortal Repulsion”, “Death the Brutal Way”…
Comment by Devamitra — August 11, 2010 @ 21:05
I ended up paying like thirty bucks for this album, but it was definitely worth it. The only other Deceased I had was 13 Frightened Souls, which is also awesome. I’d take King Fowley’s style over Flo Mounier’s any day of the week.
Comment by anthony — August 17, 2010 @ 06:17
A retrospective sounds perfect.
Comment by Jake — August 19, 2010 @ 16:09
It is awesome.
Comment by Tony Hartono — May 23, 2011 @ 03:39