Last year, French record label Season Of Mist managed to impress me with some fantastic releases, including the outstanding “Radiation” album by Impure Wilhelmina, which ended up on top of my “best of 2017” list. This year, it’s starting well again with Erdve and now there is Deathwhite as well. The American band is about to release its debut album, “For A Black Tomorrow”, which sounds highly un-American. There’s nothing remotely resembling stadium rock, metalcore or brutal death metal here: Deathwhite thrives on a sound that’s melancholic and melodic, resembling bands like Katatonia, The Old Dead Tree, Impure Wilhelmina and occasionally even Soen.
While not astonishing enough to be considered for album of the year, Deathwhite delivers a very strong debut album. “For A Black Tomorrow” contains nine heartfelt pieces of music, each of them showing fine musical craftsmanship and a deep sense of melancholy. The vocal delivery could be slightly more convincing and not all songs are too special, but listen to the gloomy riffs of “Just Remember” or the progressive approach in “Dreaming The Inverse” and you will hear that this is a band with serious talent.
If you like any of the bands mentioned above, it would be wise to give “For A Black Tomorrow” a chance and keep an eye on Deathwhite in the future. I am convinced that you will not be disappointed.
(8/10 Lykle Thijssen)
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