Deadlock

Bizarro World

Written by: TL on 21/02/2011 00:30:07

"Bizarro World" is the newest album from German sextet Deadlock, whom I've been following with interest for a while, even though I haven't found them deserving of our highest grades yet. There's just something intriguing about their unique setup. Okay, so they're hardly the first metal band to feature a female vocalist, but I have yet to hear a band arrange things quite the way they do.

At the heart of Deadlock's sound is very typical European melo-death, complete with aggressive rhythms, racing dual-guitars and vicious male death-growls. Think At The Gates, Emergency Gate and the likes. What makes Deadlock special is that they've spent their last three albums experimenting with fitting that sound with elements of techno music as well as powerful, clean-sung female vocals. If you think that sounds like an ardous task, well then you pretty much have the reason Deadlock haven't put together a truly excellent album yet.

And with that in mind, it's hard to say much has changed here on "Bizarro World". The metal parts and the melodic parts are still done proficiently enough individually, with the latter being responsible for by far the most of Deadlock's memorable moments thus far, but I'm still hard pressed to say the two extremes are made to complement each other all that well. Meanwhile, the electronic elements are all but completely restrained within the confines of the otherwise cool, Pendulum-ish "Renegade".

Hence, the record feels a bit fractured, moving back and forth between heavy parts, catchy parts, and electronic parts, and while singer Sabine Scherer (Formerly Weniger? Gotten married maybe?) dishes out some fine enough choruses in the likes of "State Of Decay", "You Left Me Dead" and "Brutal Romance", Deadlock's various elements never really combine into more than the sum of their parts.

And that's a shame, because there's something to admire here, both in the fact that Deadlock stubbornly insist on retaining elements that likely place them somewhat between audiences, and in the conviction with which they pen and deliver their content. By now, the group can obviously play what they set their mind to, and getting a fine production also seems to be under control, but save for the odd catchy chorus, Deadlock still struggle slightly with making all their ideas add up.

7

Download: State Of Decay, Renegade, You Left Me Dead
For The Fans Of: Eyes Set To Kill, Light This City, A City Serene
Listen: myspace.com/deadlock

Release Date 28.02.2011
Lifeforce Records



Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.