Deadlock - Wolves review
| Band: | Deadlock |
| Album: | Wolves |
| Style: | Melodic death metal, Melodic metalcore |
| Release date: | April 2007 |
01. World Domination
02. We Shall All Bleed
03. Code Of Honor
04. Losers' Ballet
05. Dark Cell
06. Crown Of Creation
07. End Begins
08. As Words To Bullets
09. Praeludium II
10. Bloodpact
11. To Where The Skies Are Blue
Ahh Deadlock? I still remember fondly the major part of their 2005 release Earth.Revolt. This album was full of great riffs, intricate melodies and moments of sheer genius. Unfortunately it was almost ruined by the female vocals of Sabine Weniger. She's not a bad singer, but her voice was to Deadlock's music what peanut butter is to real food: a disgrace, something that just shouldn't be there and that you (well, I) crave to see disappear. So it is in quiet dismay that I read, in the promo pack, that after years of session work, she had been granted a full time position in the band. I threw the disc in the player with all hopes crushed.
And hey, it's not so bad. I'd even say it's very good. Her vocals didn't change, but she seems to fit much better now. Ok, there are still irksome moments ("Crown Of Creation") but mainly it seems her hiring as a real member forced the band to write songs for her, more or less. "We Shall All Bleed" starts like a great real death metal song with blastbeats and all, but it's Sabine's performance on the chorus that takes the song to another, higher level. Same goes for the amazing "Code Of Honor", with its almost pop but oh-so-catchy chorus.
The odd thing is that her voice fits more, and yet the music is generally faster and more brutal than before. Where on Earth.Revolt the band focused mainly on the atmospheric side of things, sometimes to the detriment of heaviness, Wolves is guitar-based. This is an important fact and a real progression, as the songwriting is now much more memorable, with changing patterns and twisted structures, and the keyboards only enhance the music instead of making it up. The band even threw in some odd elements like this trance break in the middle of "End Begins" (from what I've read, many people hate that passage, but I'm always a fan of things that steer my interest and make me say "hey, what was that?"). This is what keeps the music moving forward.
The greatest achievement of this album is that it is at the same time atmospheric, brutal and catchy, as is best illustrated by the song "Loser's Ballet", the only one without female vocals and easily the best one they ever recorded. Oh, there's another greatest achievement: except the corny closing track "To Where The Skies Are Blue", there is no filler on this album, every track has something special. Deadlock is getting better and better, if you like melodic metal with aggression, don't miss it.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Deadsoulman | 29.08.2007
Comments
Comments: 13
Visited by: 151 users
| Bash' :) Posts: 531 From: Jordan  |
To Where The Skies Are Blue is a great track indeed!
---- I saw her standing by the crimson sea... Isolated by the silent thoughts... Her gazing was intense but so dead... The teardrops corroded the soil.. She couldn't say a word to me...
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| Unconsecrated Perpetual Ascent Posts: 868 From: Turkmenistan  |
Good review  I would give it an 8.5/10, her voice with the death vocals combined are very good. In my opinion the best tracks are Code Of Honor, Dark Cell, We Shall All Bleed and To Where The Skies Are Blue.
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| PrettyMao Posts: 86 From: Afghanistan  |
I, too, was wary of having Sabine on full time... but in the end it turned out pretty damn good. She doesn't stick out like a sore thumb anymore, as she fits in much better with the sound this time around... That being said, Earth Revolt was simply awesome and I prefer it over this album, but Wolves is still a good album, worth listening too...
---- The Mao loves you all!!! **KISS**KISS**
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| Rupert Posts: 468 From: Canada  |
I haven't listened to any whole tracks, but from what I've heard the singer sounds a lot like Avril Lavigne, so I don't really know what's so bad about that. And if anyone's thinking what I'm thinking someone might be thinking, no I don't have any of her albums, she gets a lot of radio play.
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| Deadsoulman Posts: 8004 From: France  |
Written by Rupert on 30.08.2007 at 04:31 As (I think) I said in the review, she's never been a bad singer, her voice is excellent, it's just that somehow her vocals and the music didn't match.
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| Darth Satanious Post Destroyer Posts: 2154 From: Puerto Rico  |
In Flames ripping, reaching the outrageous.
---- Christless
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| Deadsoulman Posts: 8004 From: France |
Written by Darth Satanious on 30.08.2007 at 15:01 You really think that? It's not the first time I read that kind of comment, and it just leaves me speechless. Somehow I don't find many In Flames references in their music.
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| PrettyMao Posts: 86 From: Afghanistan |
Written by Rupert on 30.08.2007 at 04:31 Dude, April Lavigne is faker than an american pornstar's breasts... love Mao
---- The Mao loves you all!!! **KISS**KISS**
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| Darth Satanious Post Destroyer Posts: 2154 From: Puerto Rico |
Written by Deadsoulman on 30.08.2007 at 16:06 To me the 'similarities' are easy to discern, falling to the blatant. Take the song "Code of Honor" as an example. The song starts with this keyboard melody that borders the electronic, something that you know In Flames has been exploring in their latest outputs. Guitars kick in with a pronounced melody accompanied by distorted guitars that, instead of riffing, simply Rock to the song (one of the reasons of that bashing towards later In Flames). By now, even the production makes the guitars to resemble between bands with this 'echo' that overtakes throughout the song. The song develops and here is when you can be sure of what period Deadlock is being 'influenced' by In Flames when guitars go completely rhythmic, another of those recent movements of the band that gardens In Flames past fans hatred. Later on, when the male vocalist starts singing after the company of the guitar riff, you will hear how you have that guitar melody with rhythm on top which is so In Flames. All this wrapped up with the In Flames sound that is very characteristic. The duet of Deadlock may distract a little from the similarities between bands, but take them out and see what you get. Take the vocalists out and you have an unreleased In Flames track. Take the male vocalist out and leave that female vocalist and you almost have a Fridénless collaboration, again, with Lisa Miskovsky. I hope you get what I mean.
---- Christless
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| Passenger Lost To Apathy Posts: 1464 From: Portugal  |
They may not be the most original band out there, but I think including a full time female vocalist with a clean voice in a Melodic Death Metal band was a fantastic idea. I honestly think this band has a lot of potencial, but they still have to make a truly great album.
---- You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it ~ Mean Streets
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| Deadsoulman Posts: 8004 From: France |
Written by Darth Satanious on 31.08.2007 at 03:38 I may not fully agree with you, but at least this is what I call a detailed opinion ^^ Thanks for that!
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| Darth Satanious Post Destroyer Posts: 2154 From: Puerto Rico |
No prob.  That is what we are here for, aren't we? Deadlock is like one of those guilty pleasures that, in spite of knowing the limits of their greatness, we can help but indulging into.
---- Christless
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| Jared_Scirocco Posts: 12 From: USA |
Written by Darth Satanious on 01.09.2007 at 03:46 Knowing their limits? In my opinion, Deadlock is one of the few bands that has no limit. Look at what they have come from. Look at how things were done in Earth Revolt compared to Wolves, and not just vocally. Ever since their albums Wolves, they've been becoming more and more progressive. Not to mention, they produce their own music now. If you take a look, only since Wolves has the lead guitarist(Sebastian Reichl) been recording, producing, AND engineering the albums. And that has certainly been for the best, as they seem to continually improve. Sabine is amazing. She's not just the incredible(and beautiful) singer, she actually helps to compose some of the keys, and she helps compose and conduct the orchestral and symphonic music with Sebastian Reichl. Love the new album, I liked Wolves a tad bit better. But that doesn't discredit Manifesto in any way. It was brilliance. Deadlock is brilliance. To say they ripped off In Flames is just weak. That's like saying The Agonist ripped of In Flames, or Scar Symmetry, etc. If you ask me, they ripped off Dark Tranquillity more than In Flames, but Deadlock didn't really rip them off either. If you notice the piano in Crown Of Creation by Deadlock, then you listen to the piano in Misery's Crown by Dark Tranquillity... See what I mean? Plus the guitars are closer to Dark Tranquillity as well. But the thing is, people have their influences. Everybody ripped off somebody else. In Flames ripped off Death, and made the style melodic death metal, and not just death metal. But who wants to waste time pointing out who ripped off who in what way? No band truly rips off another band, and Deadlock are certainly nothing like In Flames.
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