2023 M&O Music / Pro-CDR Digipak
www.m-o-music.com
BADASS TRACKS: Never Forget, Blazed (Raging Fire), Evolution
of Evil, Closer to the Grave, Hatred Is My Enemy, and The Hanged Man.
ONE-WORD BADASS DESCRIPTION: Merauderish (I know it’s not a word, fuckface).
Even though this is not a death metal record, I felt it
deserves inclusion on this site because Dan Gates (formerly of the mighty
fuckin’ wimpcrushers TON) lent his musical talent to this album. Immediately,
some of the riffs reminded me of one of my favorite hardcore acts, Merauder. When
I mentioned that to Dan he told me about their guitarist Ernesto Colon doing
time in that very same band! Dead Earth plays a mixture of heavy-ass hardcore
and thrash, with a few leanings toward more extreme types of metal. It should
appeal to deathmaniacs the very same way Merauder does with their heavy grooves
and mid-paced thrash. This isn’t stupid
“pizza thrash,” with the pretentious lyrical content that stuff usually
contains. This has real-world-based lyrics and room-wrecking riffs, all
channeled through the angry, hardcore-style shouted vocals and aggressive
songwriting.
Physically, this pro-CDR comes as a sturdy-ass digipak, with
some of the thickest cardboard I’ve ever encountered for a cover, with a glossy
finish. The large writing on the spine makes it pop right out of my collection,
and for old-ass metalists like me, that’s a plus. Other than that, the layout
is no more or less than you’d want from a release. The record was recorded at
Noah Buchanan’s Mercenary Studios, and I love his work – he always makes things
sound almost analog, with none of the digitized sameness that a lot of records
have today. There’s plenty of bottom end in the recording with its thick guitar
tones and body-rumbling bass. When the bass drums start galloping during
several of the songs, they hit like a machine gun without being clicky, and the
toms sound deep, the snare heavy.
A few musical moments truly stood out in my first pass
through the record. First, the heavy-ass riffs in the breakdowns of most of the
songs (and they’re not the sad-sack breakdowns of modern hardcore – these are real
breakdowns) adrenalized me and made me want to destroy the room and slam my
head against the stage! Second, I was surprised toward the end of the record
when some black metal-style riffs appeared in the song Evolution of Evil,
especially the opening riff. They don’t sound out of place on this record at
all, they fit. The album flows extremely well, also, and clear thought was
given to the song order. I appreciate that. Dead Earth even pulled a classic
metal move with their last song, “Burn with Me” (a slower, epically-riffed tune),
much like Ripper Owens-era Judas Priest did with the final songs on those two
records (I just listened to those, so it came to mind). I thoroughly enjoyed
the record, and I’m sure I’ll spin it more than just this once. It’s nice to
see that Cleveland can still turn out a band like this.
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