Displaying the Art of Carnage

First time my attention got drawn to this band was while watching a clip of the very enchanting live-performance by Lividity at the Obscene Extreme-Open Air in 2015. While enjoying a roundel of their finest bits and pieces I noticed Von Young was wearing a shirt with a (fortunately) decipherable logo on it, reading "Deaden". After a little research (on Metal-Archives, of course) I became aware of Deaden being Von Young's former band. Convinced that Mr. Young is a gentleman of formidable musical craftsmanship and - unquestionably - with a questionable taste for the grotesque side of life I decided to delve deeper. And, oh boy, what can I say? A decision I do not regret at all. One more proof that wearing band-shirts is one of the best methods for advertising misanthropic underground music.

So, what lies ahead of the weary listener? Well, it's brutal death metal, and actually the good kind. Intense, unrelenting, grim and morbid, with a slight sense of impending insanity. It's no surprise that Mr. Young became a member of Lividity, because in my opinion both bands share the same stylistic territory, only Deaden being a little bit more creative by inweaving unusual ideas, fostering variation, and being quite talented with a sense for sinister atmosphere. A trademark one does not find often in this subgenre. What they differ in is Deaden's lack of humour. Their lyrical content is dead serious (with an emphasis on "DEAD"), dealing with the everyday horror mankind is offering to itself in the form of sexual sadism and serial killers, both classical topoi of the subgenre. Lividity's intros and outros give you a good chuckle with their silly display of exaggerated sexism and vulgarity. Deaden keeps it dark, scoring sinister tales of bloodlust and suffering.

All typical stylistic elements of brutal death metal are present: grunts, squeals, down-tuned guitars, chugging riffs, pinched harmonics, blast beats, changes in rhythm and time, etc. The compositions are groovy and complex but still very accessible. What sets Deaden apart from most of the rest of the herd is their capability to create the afore-mentioned sinister atmosphere, especially by combining musical ideas with movie samples. To set my finding forth one example shall be given: at the end of "Blood Came from Sodomy" (one of my personal favourites) short and frantic high-pitched chords are slowly fading out while you can hear the scared whimpering and choking sounds of a male victim. As I said before, there is nothing goofy or ironic about it. It's a serious, very graphic narrative created by music, lyrics and samples combined. Stylistically, a song that reminds me very much of the album "Forensic" by the great Mortal Decay.

The orchestration is well executed and at a high level, but the snare lacks power while playing fast blast beats. Soundwise it’s an improvement compared to their first album. Forceful, organic, but some lack of clarity. Especially the drums are a little bit swampy. The lyrics are surprisingly deep and profound, mostly from the perspective of the perpetrator, portraying his inner thoughts. Unfortunately, the artwork is not very convincing. Deaden preferred to simply use a photograph displaying a mutilated body (fitting the album title, at least!), with some kind of optical post-processing. But it does look cheap and is not doing justice to the awesome musical content at all.

In conclusion, it's quite a shame that Deaden is not much more commonly known in the brutal death metal scene. "Displaying the Art of Carnage" was their second album after nine years in hiatus and unfortunately their last before the band split-up. They offer a lot to the willing listener: interesting songwriting, musical craftsmanship, a very dense and dark atmosphere, and a very distinctive style, and - oh my gosh - replayability! While working on this review I was listening to it on repeat for over twenty times at least, I guess. And I never got tired of this record with its perfect 33:38 minutes of playtime. To me, an album far above the average!