Search - Deadlock :: Manifesto

Excellent Album, Great Sound, Great Style

Siklootd | Santa Fe, NM | 03/31/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Deadlock is a very unique band within the Melodic Death Metal music scene. With top notch albums such as "Wolves" and "Earth.Revolt" already on their resume, Deadlock needed to come out swinging yet again in order to continue progressing their style they have developed over the years. Well, "Manifesto" may just be good enough to do that.



The album may not be as "heavy" as previous albums, replacing more of the traditional death growls associated with Melodeath, with more contemporary sung lyrics. The vocals are excellent though. Between Johannes' great sounding growls, and Sabine's sometimes angelic sounding voice, the album hits all notes perfectly, leaving the listener stunned and trapped in the non-stop onslaught the album brings to your ears. The mixture of the two vocalists sounds quite excellent, blending heavy elements with more relaxed, and easier to listen to ones.



The band stays true to their typical lyrical content, animal rights. All of the songs feature lyrics about how bad animals are treated, and about how humans need to change their "wicked ways". I, personally, do not like being preached to, but lyrical content aside, Deadlock's style alone makes me continue to come back to them, over and over again. Every song contains a nice melody, great guitar riffs, and excellent drumming rhythms that all fall perfectly into place when mixed with the growls and clean vocals.



Songs such as "Martyr to Science" and "Fire at Will" continue to develop a more unique sound for the band. The songs contain catchy choruses, harsh vocals, and excellent instrument work. "Fire at Will" even contains a unique saxophone solo, yes, a saxophone solo, and it fits beautifully. The closing song of the album, "Temple of Love" is an excellent cover of the original title performed by The Sisters of Mercy, and Sabine's voice sounds perfect for the song. "Dying Breed" is my personal favorite track, and it contains the guest vocalist Christian Alvestam from Scar Symmetry, Miseration, Solution.45, The Few Against Many, and many other Melodic Death Metal bands. Christian Alvestam has always had an amazing range to his voice, especially when it comes to clean vocals, and having him assist Sabine's voice in harmony sounds almost heavenly. The two sound amazing individually, and putting them together on the same track was pure genius, seeing as the resulting sound is astonishing.



The song "Death Race", also strays away from typical stereotypes associated with a Melodic Death Metal band. However, this time it's in a bad way. The song, for reasons unexplained, suddenly breaks down into a random rap track in the midst of a good song. The rap song does not stray away from Deadlock's lyrical content, featuring rappers talking about animal rights. However, the content, the style, and delivery, all seem too out of place for a metal album, especially one of this caliber. I can tolerate a band singing about animal rights, since it sounds more natural and the song is still enjoyable, but a rap song about the same subject matter just feels forced and awkward, resulting in a very unpleasant experience for the listener.



All in all, this album is very good. If you're looking for heavy Melodic Death Metal, you probably won't be happy with this release. The often pop sounding clean vocals may turn you off; I recommend you stick to bands like Dark Tranquillity, Mors Principium Est, Epicurean, Callenish Circle, Detonation, Zonaria, and other bands such as these. However, if you're looking for something with more melody, something that is different, and something catchy on all levels, then perhaps Manifesto will be a good choice for you. If you enjoy Melodic Death Metal bands such as Sonic Syndicate, Scar Symmetry, Miseration, Soilwork, In Flames, or Mercenary, then you will definitely enjoy this album."