Napalm Records – Out Now.
The combination of brutal male and angelic female vocals, better known as the “beauty and the beast” phenomenon in Metal music, first appeared in the mid 90s and was popularised by leading bands of the Gothic Metal genre like Theatre Of Tragedy and Trail of Tears.
Well, though no longer attracting the lion’s share of the attention from either music fans or the music industry, this style seems to still be quite influential on certain bands, among them – Deadlock. The Bavarian quintet, whose first studio effort was released eleven years ago, has quite recently completed its latest offering, entitled “The Arsonist” – a ten track album which is being released with the support of the Austrian label Napalm Records.
Creating an album capable of adhering to the rules and expectations of the chosen genre and, at the same time, being able to present the listener with something fresh and unique is no small feat, so you might find the strength to forgive the members of the band for failing at the latter.
In truth, Sebastian Reichl (guitar/keys) and Sabine Scherer (vocals) seems to have calculatedly indulged in every single cliché available when creating the ten compositions on offer as simple solid riffs and brutal male growls dominate the proceedings, and melodic female vocals are relegated to providing memorable melodies through short and Pop-influenced refrains.
Does it work? Well, the jury is still out on this one as every generic riff is accompanied by a cleverly crafted female vocal melody, the likes of which you might find just too difficult to resist.
Clichés or no clichés, the opening composition “The Great Pretender” is of such quality that it simply could not have been created by a band that lacks compositional skills. The main question here was never whether the members of this band know how to use their instruments, but whether they are capable of employing those skills in a way that will capture people’s attention throughout the album.
Sadly, follow-up compositions like “I’m Gone”, “Dead City Sleepers” and the same-titled “The Arsonist” offer nothing new and one has to wait until track seven in order to enjoy something slightly different and rewarding.
“Hurt” is actually the best composition on offer as it is the only time when Sabine Scherer is allowed a leading role, creating a truly beautiful piece of music with the help of a moody grand piano theme and various orchestrations.
The band decides to conclude this album in a safe and calculated way by means of “The Final Storm” and “My Pain”, but not before providing us with a clever and much fitting cover of Bronski Beat’s magnum opus “Small Town Boy”.
Female-fronted Metal is not my genre of choice, so for an album like “The Arsonist” to make a massive impression on me it would have to be the product of a band with a unique musical perspective, something that Deadlock certainly aren’t.
Having said that, I do find that, when in the right mood, these ten compositions can be fairly entertaining and I also believe that there are certain qualities the band has to offer that will not be overlooked by any loyal fan of this genre – the kind of person that this album is clearly targeting.
John Stefanis
Rating: *** (3.0/5.0)
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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024
In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections
Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
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14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)
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