Say goodbye to the Good ol\' Boys and hello to Texas\'s other musical taste: heavy guitar laden death rock with no room for breathing. That\'s right, The Dead See have abandoned the pistol packing Texan image for one of slightly more Grim Reaper appeal. As if the name of the group wasn\'t indicative of their musical genre - the new album\'s final picture of Mark Key, Josh Paul, Marcos Morales and Neil Barrett with skeletonesque phantasms where their faces should be is more than enough to give it away. These aren\'t your typical twang happy Texans, this is the darker side and well, can Texas hard rock be done?
Instrumentally, Through the Veil is everything the genre demands it to be, heavy hitting with enough distortion to make you pound your head in a very "look at me I\'m a die hard rocker" fashion. Drums. Guitar. Intensity. It\'s all there and for that they get a thumbs up. But unfortunately, knowing how to play your instruments only elevates you into the top 50% of the music industry. The rest relies on vocal and lyrical talent...and I guess in the case of death metal: defying societal expectations of what music has to be in favor of expressing the raw emotion bubbling just beneath the surface.
On the latter note, The Dead See more than succeed in displaying their angst filled lives through a cacophony of ear-wrenching vocals guaranteed to showcase the lyrics of protest and self-realization...assuming you\'re really good at filtering through death metal vocals for messages. I\'m not, so I cheated and used the insert that has the lyrics. Assuming what was said in the songs is actually what was printed, then A+ for lyrics. You can\'t go wrong with their album which (assuming my artistic interpretation was valid) protests the hypocrisy of a war on terror when the country is really searching for its own identity and searches for a deeper meaning behind what would seem to be a timeline of endless suffering. Once again, assuming my interpretation has any validity at all.
The album Through the Veil is well done for the most part with a few ear-catching pieces that stand above the rest. Unfortunately, it does little to make a name for itself in the overcrowded world of death metal and consequently may get lost in the shuffle. While I appreciated the message, I\'d have to say it was a generic one found in death metal and pop culture alike. If you can\'t stand pop rock and you want a solid message such as I described, pick up The Dead See\'s newest album Through the Veil. Otherwise, content yourself with any number of other protest-oriented albums that have and will come out in recent years.
"Through the Veil" is on sale May 22, 2007 from Pluto Records.
