Deadfreight Of Soul are a finely tuned machine direct from Augsburg in Bavaria, and this five piece are intent on putting their home town firmly on the metal map.
The band were generated in a cellar as a trio in 2007, and within 2 years they had added another 2 members to the fold. To say this is their first full length release, in the 10 years since their inception, they have by no means been quiet. There has been a barrage of EP’s, touring cycles, various competitions, and numerous schedules of gigs, which have all helped to bolster their name and get their reputation built.
The band is made up by Flo R on lead guitar, Flo H on rhythm guitar, Stephan on bass, Jakob on drums and Andi on vocal duties, and they have set a definite intent on this release, ‘Tortured puppets’. The album starts with a haunting intro ‘Exorcism’ and steam rolls through the full 47 minutes until the final chords of closer ‘Tortured Puppets’.
This is full on death metal, and the band have shifted sideways from their initial metal core sound. Andi keeps the whole thing glued together with some raw, guttural growls, which any death metal fan will be inspired by, and this is joined by some mesmerising fretwork from the 2 Flos. As well as the traditional growls, Andi delivers some hard and lively shouts and screams throughout the release, and Stephan binds the various elements together with some heavy, pounding, brutal bass sophistication, and constantly in the background is some real brutal and aggressive double bass and blast beats.
‘Angeli Apostatae’ is a highlight on the album, and rolls through your soul and leaves you feeling battered and bruised, and by the time the next track ‘Strain Relief’ hits you full on, it continues your journey at breakneck speed. The album continues in the same vain with ‘Grautoene’ and ‘Frenetic Crusader’, and then another potential highlight rears its head in the form of ‘Incurable’.
The complete 11 tracks of brutality are unrelenting, and this will surely make the death metal world stand up and at least take note. This may divide the purists and the optimists, as the vocal style and arrangement may not suit those who think there is no biosphere past Cannibal Corpse or Morbid Angel, but for everyone who is willing to take a shot, and maybe even retune their ear to a new style of vocals, they may well find a new band to add to their world.
(7/10 Phil Pountney)
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