lista zespołów Melodic Death Dethklok Dethalbum II

[Originally posted August 22, 2011]

There are a lot of people that don’t consider Dethklok to be a real metal band. I on the other hand beg to differ. Probably the reason for a lot of people not liking Dethklok is that they are an animated band that originated on a T.V. show. Also, in their first album, there were only two people making the music (which surprised me because it sounded like there were more people). As well as that, the lyrical themes in their songs were quite comedic and abstract in songs like Birthday Dethday, Fansong, and Briefcase Full of Guts. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of the first album; I don’t really think they truly applied themselves which caused the music to be somewhat below mediocre. But they have really improved quite a bit with the new album which impressed me.

The overall sound quality of the album is low. It kind of has that mushy, metallic sound. The sound of the guitar distortion has a very delectable crunchy sound that reminds me of God Dethroned. The creativity level has gone way up since the first album. The lyrical themes have varied now, instead of all being about “deth”, they have covered a wider variety of themes. The drumming in some songs is also very fast and tight, as well as being more creative and less repetitive. The area that I think has improved the most is the vocals. Before, the vocals sounded like the vocalist hadn’t really developed his own unique sound (which is something that every decent metal vocalist does). It just sounded like he hadn’t really been growling very long, like he was just starting. But now, he has really developed a deep, sharp sound that sounds really cool.

The first song is also the single, and the one with the music video. My favorite part of it is the really cool sounding drums at the beginning and in other parts of the song. Laser Cannon Deth Sentence is a really cool song that is quite fast and tight. The song reminds me of In Perfection by Cipher System. The Gears is probably my favorite song off the record. It has a really tight, crunchy sound to it that has really creative vocal sounds, drum parts, and keyboard backgrounds. Comet Song is not one of my favorites. It is repetitive at parts, and there are times where it gets off beat, which bothers me. Overall, this is a delectable album that I would recommend to melodic death fans. 14/20.

Metalocalypse creator Brendon Small can claim a most unique approach to writing, playing, and producing the heavy metal music that is the 2009 CD “Dethalbum II” and that is metal by design. Small, unlike any other artist, isn’t writing for himself; he writes for what should be the appropriate sound for Dethklok - the animated metal quintet described on the show as the greatest band on the planet. Whatever sounds, tones, phrases, styles, and tempos Small considers as qualified for Dethklok music is put in, even if it appears to be typical, stock, or worse - borrowed. Of course, that is the advantage of writing under this parameter - done poorly and it is Dethklok and the show Metalocalypse that will be criticized and perhaps suffer - Brendon Small will not. Done well, and Small is a genius with comparable metallic flare. With that being said, “Dethalbum II” is a very well designed, expertly produced, and skillfully played metal album.

Even though Dethklok is purported to be a Scandinavian metal band, Small has expanded the overall style of the music to include shades of thrash (“Comet Song”, “Murmaider II: The Water God”), death (“The Gears”), symphonic/epic (“Volcano”), black - both traditional and contemporary - (“Laser Cannon Deth Sentence”) and even punk (“Dethsupport”) and 90’s metal (“Symmetry”). Commonalities linking the album are tempo (no slow songs - mid-tempo to fast and aggressive) and tone - of which Small and superstar guest drummer Gene Hoglan (Death, SYL) are both masters of. The drums are thunderous, while the rhythm guitars are full-bodied, and razor sharp. All of this is enhanced by the production: “Dethalbum II” is a well recorded album. Nothing is muffled, and everything is picked up - you can actually hear the picking on the high lead notes on “Black Fire Upon Us” for example.

Lyrically, some of the themes are closely tied to the show, and to a fault it can lessen the overall value of a given track if one is unfamiliar to the series-connected context, but for the most part it’s the music that is the driving force of “Dethalbum II” and to be fair some songs do have lyrics that provide excellent socio/political commentary (“Dethsupport”) while others sport a contrived prose that is simply essential if not complimentary to the music it is coupled with (“Bloodlines”, “Black Fire Upon Us”).

Still, there is a stangeness to the project that can not be ignored - again referring to the original premise of “Dethalbum II” - which is two fold. One is a complete lack of persuasion in the music as orchestrated by Small. There are no hooks and no discernable chorus lines that instantly resonate with the listener (“Laser Cannon Deth Sentence“ is a most noteable exception with is machine gun-like delivery of the word ‘die‘). Second, is what appears to be a more personal agenda on the part of Small to showcase his musicianship (which is very good; it should be stated) over staying within the confines of the characters that make up Dethklok. Pound for pound, there are more dubbed dual leads, duets, lead line defining themes, and overall lead work than any other output by any other instrumental track. Debatable to be sure, but the result is a sound less likely by Swisgaar Skwigelf and more like Brandon Small. Had there been perhaps a guest lead guitarist to emulate “the fastest guitarist alive” on a couple tracks, this alternative motive may not be so noticeable.

Regardless, Brendon Small and Gene Hoglan play perfectly together, and under the creative umbrella that is Dethklok, these tracks more than appropriately serve the animated series very well. They are great sounding tracks that perfectly signify and emulate what great metal is all about, making “Dethalbum II” one of the best conceptual metal projects to have come out in 2009.