Dawn of the Deaf

No; not by a long shot at that. These “outsiders” can’t be placed squarely within the German metal roster since all the band members hail from different (Chile, Turkey, Israel) parts of the world, joining forces in the melting pot known as Berlin. The debut was a confident slab of classic power/thrash with shades of Eidolon and later-period Iced Earth, with a couple of darker more brooding riffs in the vein of Nevermore embedded as well into the solid, but not exceedingly eventful, occasionally monotonous main formula.

Three years later it’s an entirely different story, the album reviewed here showing the guys as much more proficient musicians. The final result is both more aggressive and more complex, a dark progressive brand of thrash, a bit more on the modern side, which nicely reminds of two behemoths from the past, Sacrosanct’s “Recesses for the Depraved” and Grip Inc.’s “Nemesis”.

Both sides of the newly acquired approach are handsomely displayed on the dynamic "End of Trust" where hard thrashing rhythms interlace with quirky unpredictable tempo-shifts, the vocalist marching alongside the intriguing rifforamas with his hoarse, semi-shouty/semi-clean baritone, emitting more passion on occasion, but always making sure no one ever thinks of inviting him to sing on a wedding. Speedy skirmishes are not the order of the day on the short, but labyrinthine "Until the World Takes Us" where some puzzling Extol-like spirals can be come across even, those lofty developments put an end with the aggressive, more linear shredding on the title-track. The guys don’t give up expanding in the intricacy sector, though, and before you know it enters "In Decadence" with a portion of more technical, outlandish decisions those also staying around for "New Disorder", but surrounded by a more brutal, headbanging setting, and yet amazingly remaining comprehensive and distinct among the vitriolic aggressive thrashing. An impressive symbiosis which is nearly as seamlessly achieved on "Of A Nation", another hyper-active shredder with more technical walkabouts circling around, making the prevalent speedy delivery even more compelling.

A major upgrade that doesn’t quite sound like anything else out there from the contemporary metal realm, this effort gracefully justifies the presence of (ex-)members of the talented Chilean technical/progressive death metal cohorts Target and Agonized in the line-up. It’s not that the debut was bad, but artists of such a calibre are by all means capable of more, and here it was, this excellent sophomore which may as well be the most convincing multinational collaboration on the metal horizon at present. “Dawn of the Deaf… sorry, Dead 5” needs compulsively aggressive, also sophisticatedly technical, soundtrack, and I can’t see any more suitable “outsiders” right now for its execution.