Internal Demons

Deals Death is yet another second-rate exercise in the expected characteristics that always seem to trace back to Children of Bodom. Not necessarily a raw deal in every instance, as we have acts like Made of Hate and the like pushing at least a few innovative buttons courtesy of one or more unique allures. These Swedes fall somewhere in-between just as expected, and for the time of its release, Internal Demons certainly fills something of a void and is armed to the teeth with pretty much all of the typical fare. To draw the expected parallel right away for coherency's sake, Deals Death's modus operandi falls closest to Hate Crew Deathroll, which means while undeniably slick and modernly inclined, Internal Demons maintains just enough sappy melodic goodness to consistently pop with me. Grooves are prevalent, as are shaky, vocal-centric verses like on "Tilted Lifestyle," but drive and sprightliness are both apparent and key cogs in Deals Death's approach here.

That all said, these should be givens under virtually any circumstances surrounding this style, and thankfully fans of such will find at least two or three numbers on Internal Demons worthy of a few spins. A flurry of palm-mutes, chugs and mercifully a negligence of pinch harmonics define most of the primary assault, with Sundén and Jacbonsen breaking off a sizable aggregate of overproduced grit with which to sit down and enjoy. It thankfully retains just enough of that Scandinavian flavor to avoid falling prey to many of the familial deficiencies that drove Are You Dead Yet? toward the realms of self-parody. Some of the verses tend to drag a bit, but there are moments of glorious leadwork that pop up seemingly out of nowhere, like on the intro to the title track, which is unsurprisingly the best number here. "Truthful Profession" is also a strong opener, but ultimately much of Internal Demons is interchangeable and without the verve to stand out in any regard.

In fact, if it wasn't for the keyboards this would be an entirely faceless release, and thankfully they save the proceedings on more than one occasion. Kudos to Death Deals for making relatively tasteful use of the synth, and abstaining from exaggerated reliance that has felled many an act. There are some nice faux-orchestrations, but they never serve as anything further than accentuation along with setting the initial melodic foundation for which the band to build upon. It doesn't necessarily always work, as the band's flagrant attempt at their own "Everytime I Die" in "Live Your Death" is somewhat cheesy and fails to strike the match for yours truly. Slower, atmospheric fare like this is one realm within which Children of Bodom have always excelled, and Death Deals fails to revel in the same panache.

Frankly, there isn't much else to say here. Supposedly Alexander Kuoppala delivers some soloing on the record, but if this is anything to go by, he was always better suited as a rhythm guitarist anyway. Much of this material runs parallel to so many other acts I wouldn't even hazard a guess, and a 2009 release date certainly does it no favors, but Internal Demons kept me somewhat invested for much of its duration, and you can honestly do a whole lot worse. Safe but approachable.