Labels: Viral Age
Review by: Alex Hannan
First off, I’d like to mention the great artwork and packaging on this LP – the design points up the more space-rock elements of DEAD IN THE WOODS’ sound, with its starscapes, symbols and strange monuments and artifacts picked out in deep reds, oranges and yellows on black. First song “Calvaire” starts with a hint of esoteric atmosphere to match, echoing bleeps and eerie guitar scribbles, before diving into heavy riffing. There’s a stoner rock feel to a lot of the riffs, but bolted to a slightly techy crust chassis, so rather than settling into a repetitive groove the metre shifts back and forth (think track 1, side 1 of “15 Counts of Arson”…) The songwriting mostly feels focused and concise in a way that places it firmly on the punk side of the fence. Another touch which emphasises punk over metal stylings – the levels are mixed and balanced to solidify the band as a unit. Even when the guitars cut loose from the rhythmic backing they’re placed cohesively in the rest of the music, not too high – no heroics, just a nice chunky sound.
“Frontier town” is the closest the band come to stoner rock. Asymmetries are still built into the structure but it flows more smoothly than elsewhere. Little acid-fried string bending tweaks feature prominently, reminding me of Brant Bjork’s style. The first of three slower instrumentals follows, the brooding, meandering “Beyond Tannhäuser Gate” (referencing the site of a battle seen by one of the replicants in Blade Runner.) It echoes Sabbath’s ballads, flanged guitar and shimmers of slide making an appearance over a snaking, repetitive bass riff, signalling a move into space-rock territory. I could easily imagine Ozzy wailing over the top, but there’s enough here to hold my interest.
Lyrically you’ll find depictions of ruined cities beset by wolves, despair-filled frontier towns under burning sun, and some mythological/fantasy creatures resulting in big gnarly metal vocabulary like “cryptobranchid” and “antediluvian”. The lyrics to “The Awakening” are particularly interesting. Much of this is rendered in an effective deep roar which works great on “Hoyerswerda”, for example. My only issue is that the delivery is mostly in short syllable bursts followed by pauses which now and then makes me wish for a bit of variety in pattern, noticeably so in “The Awakening”.
Side two is bookended by instrumentals (named, for what it’s worth, after a god in the Sumerian religion who was banished to the underworld for raping a goddess, and a binary star system.) “Enlil banished” is a more sludgy, discordant beast than “Beyond Tannhäuser Gate”, but like the earlier track it’s anchored on a prominent bassline with a more spacious feel and the distortion dialed back. That most sci-fi of instruments, the Theremin, makes an appearance here alongside clanging reverbed guitar. The pace drops a little over this second half, though – although the gathering of energy through “Hoyerswerda” is great, the sequencing of its extended coda into another long instrumental drops my interest a little toward the end.
The label, studio, and mastering will all be familiar to attentive readers of Collective, and the artwork is done by the guitarists – it’s a great effort from all concerned, and nice to see the DIY scene producing such a cohesive piece of work on all levels. I should also mention that it’s been great to see Henry’s progress as a drummer over the past years – it’s not often someone takes up an instrument in their late twenties and ends up on this kind of fierce form.