Band's List Technical Death Deadborn Mayhem Maniac Machine

Germany as a fertile land for excellent extreme metal is evident, from being the birthplace of what is now known as the Teutonic style of thrash metal, to the aggressive black metal scene with the aggressive bands that spew forth from the country. Technical death metal has also found its place in the country, with bands like Obscura and Necrophagist hailing from the country. Deadborn is not a newcomer to the technical death metal genre either, featuring 2 ex-members of Necrophagist, and this year sees the band release their second full length album, Mayhem Maniac Machine.

It is perhaps not surprising then, that the opening riffs of Premises of Cryonics bears a striking resemblance to the Obscura track, Anticosmic Overload, though there is a significant lack of the presence of the bass here. Deadborn's sound is also considerably more thrashy with a more brutal feel, compared to their compatriots Obscura who prefer a more contemplative sound, and this comes about from the deep, throaty vocals of Mario, somewhat reminiscent of Polish bands like Vader in his vocal execution. As would be expected of technical death metal, the album is full of complex riffing patterns of guitarists Jo and Kevin, all backed by the capable rhythmic section of drummer Slavek who alternates between odd time signatures with little effort.

At the same time, the band doesn't neglect the flow of the music by going wild on the technicalities of the music, always managing to maintain a sense of melody in the music, ensuring that there is a logical rhythm for the headbangers out there. Surprisingly as well, the main focus on the album are the riffing and the drumming of Slavek, and the few guitar solos, when present on the album aren't those typical shred-fests and instead see guitarists Jo and Kevin pull out tasteful and well thought-out melodies, such as on Profanatic Reanimation, providing a nice, stark contrast to the high energy that the band emanates at the background.

Unfortunately, the band falls slightly in terms of variety, with numerous tracks sounding rather similar to each other perhaps due to the lack of leads and the usual wankery on the bass that are present on tech-death albums, though it is hard to deny that the high energy on Mayhem Maniac Machine is infectious, making this an excellent album for those looking for an album to simply mosh out to, yet not willing to forsake technicalities at the same time.