German Death Metal band Deserted Fear’s highly anticipated third album ‘Dead Shores Rising’ will hit us in the new year and fans of the band would know, they have never disappointed us…so far. Slated to release on the 27th of January next year via Nuclear Blast, the band promises 13 tracks of groove laden old school Death Metal, that will make you move. Although their previous effort ‘Kingdom of Worms’ saw the band in a more polished avatar compared to their debut album, they did not dilute the hard hitting hooks and the pummeling groove. The band continues this style on their latest album and whether that goes down well with fans remains to be seen. I admit, when I compare the three albums with each other, I prefer the raw, jagged sound of their debut over the other two hands down.
Manuel Glatter and Fabian Hildebrandt left their hometown of Eisenberg to Jena, at the edge of Thuringia’s rangy forests and lonely graveyards, to build a new home studio for this album. Mixing and mastering legend Dan Swano (Edge of Sanity) once again puts the pieces together ensuring a modern sound delivering equal dose of crunchy distortion and engaging melodies. The black and white album artwork is quite detailed and depicts the band’s skeletal talisman standing at the battlefield as he looks out towards the ocean determined, as his comrades prepare his boat for a new journey to conquer new frontiers.
Following suit from their previous albums, the album opens up after a brief haunting instrumental and dives straight into the sea of groove laden goodness of “The Fall of Leaden Skies”. Simon Mengs leads the way with some super crispy work behind the kit and Manuel Glatter’s deep growls propels the track with full speed. Fabian Hildebrandt makes his presence felt as he peppers the track with an infectious melodic guitar line to round up this super groovy opener. The band sounds super tight, each member not letting their presence slump even for an instant. The starting two or three tracks sail through easily and keeps the listener engaged thanks to the mix of controlled belligerence and melodic guitar lines.
The solos are nice and to the point, knitting up the groove and the innumerable hooks that the band neatly arranges together. So far so good…but as the album progresses midway, the compositions more or less carry the same flavor, hardly employing any variation. Tracks like “The Edge of Insanity” or “Corrosion of Souls” are although strong tracks on their own but multiple spins on the album blurs the difference between them. A filler midway into the album called “Interlude” provides a welcome break before the subsequent track “Towards Humanity” gets you back in the same headspace as the initial moments of the album. Deserted Fear deviates ever so slightly towards the melodic end of the spectrum on ‘Dead Shores Rising’ as compared to the previous efforts but the groove is held on firmly throughout. The guitar lines are haunting and evil, but at the same time also have a distinct epic feel to it. There are several fists pumping moments throughout the album that you will enjoy.
The album stands at a little less than 45 minutes with two bonus tracks “A Morbid Vision” and “The Path of Sorrow”. To summarize, Deserted Fear continue their legacy of producing something that is enjoyable, addictive and groovy. However, as the lack of variation in their compositions becomes more and more evident over multiple spins, the overall experience gets diluted as you realize that there are not many moments that stay with you after you have finished listening to the album. I believe this one is solely for hardcore fans of the band who wouldn’t mind being served the same dish again and again.