Album Review: Deadrisen - Deadrisen
Reviewed by Jon Wigg
New band Deadrisen is a mix of the old school and modern metal out of the East Coast of America. The creation of 2 veterans, Bomma/Rivera guitarist Rod Rivera and Symphony X bassist Mike LePond, the band is completed by Tony Stahl (Livesay) on keyboards, Dan Prestup (Midnight Eternal) on drums and Will Shaw (Heir Apparent) on vocals.
The result of this mash up is their self-titled debut album they describe as progressive power metal. And a rip-snorter is it too. Intro Track ‘Risen Death AD’ is a gothic kick off and includes cello and chants and this leads into the opening song ‘Prophecy’. This is a stomping power metal number that goes for the throat from the start and includes excellent use of the keyboards. The pace and style continue into ‘Destiny’ and these 2 tracks really kick off proceedings very nicely. Heads will be banging and you can definitely hear both the 1980’s metal (Maiden, Priest etc) and modern influences.
Highlight, ‘The Maker’ is where the progressive bit ramps up and this is a great track with some of the Latin influences from Rivera that are often present throughout the album. The pace drops for ballad ‘Reach For the Sun’ which is well constructed and stylistically reminds me of the Judas Priest ballads that wind up in the heaviness as the tracks progress. ‘Visions’ is more proggy with some definite Rush influences and ‘Chains of Time’ ups the tempo again. This is a standard metal stomps along with no pretensions – it just rocks.
As you would expect, LePond’s bass is prevalent throughout, especially in the last 2 original tracks ‘Fear and Fury’ and ‘But You’. The first of these has a real ‘80s Queensryche feel and the second reminded me of mid-‘90s Annihilator with thrash sections.
The last track is a cover of Metallica’s iconic ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’. Again, the bass mix is to the fore but this for me, is the only disappointment on the album. Cliff Burton’s bass line on this track is one that any kid learning bass (or indeed guitar) is very familiar with and although the song is played with consummate skill and sung with gusto, it just isn’t Burton/Hetfield. I would have preferred another original song, given how much I enjoyed the rest.
All of the performances on the album are excellent but a special mention to the very strong vocals of Will Shaw. This slab contains power metal, deeper ballads, high metal screams and softer prog sections, and Shaw excels in all areas. A real all-rounder. I really enjoyed ‘Deadrisen’ and will definitely be adding it to my rotation for a good while.
Deadrisen release their self titled album through AFM Records on 13th March
