Dead Hand - Reborn of Dead Light (2018)
The last time we reviewed a release by
Dead Hand was back in 2016, when they put out a split 7” with
Shroud Eater, and their experimental strain of sludge/doom was as
much of a treat then as it was on their prior releases. Now they're
back with their second album, and that genre-bending approach has
even more refinement to its handling, with the band melding those two
main styles while swirling in a number of others, and keeping the
pacing, energy, momentum, and technical aspects all handled with
excellent care.
As with the album's title (and its
respective track), the song names lend a clear flavor to the music,
with the remainder being “Alabaster and Bone”, “Parapraxis”,
and “Amaranthine”. Short and evocative, though (outside of the
~4-minute “Parapraxis”) the songs don't share the shortness,
averaging out about ten minutes per track. And in that time, they
explore moods of aggression and melancholy, wrath and longing,
crushed hope and burgeoning despair, and so on. Turns of melody and
rhythm come sharply, but don't derail the songs, and the fusion of
styles moves with impressive fluidity from one focus to the next.
While the length of the songs may be
off-putting to some, it's an album that rewards jumping into those
sizable songs with a diverse richness of heavy atmospheres. And
given the difficulty of keeping all the turns twisted into the songs
straight in your mind, it's practically guaranteed to hold up to
heavy repeated listening. The band will be running a tour through
the south-east United States in support of the album's upcoming
release, set to drop on CD, vinyl, and digital on September 7th,
with a bonus cover of Alice in Chains' “Them Bones” on the CD
edition. Whatever your format preference, be sure to snag a copy if
intelligently-composed heaviness is something you enjoy.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Heavydeath, Naught,
Reptensol, The Sleer, Thou
~
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