EP Review: Dead Heat - Endless Torment
Reviewed by Dan Phipps
Coming from California Dead Heat have spent six years building a furious reputation for delivering a punishing blend of thrash and metallic hardcore. Having picked up the band's last full length immediately following their blistering set at last summer's Ieper Fest in Belgium I was excited to hear about a new release and eager to hear what the band had created.
Where to start with Endless Torment? Where its predecessor was a slick slab of metallic hardcore Dead Heat I feel have truly embraced the pure crossover vibe. What is extremely evident is Dead Heat have not ventured into the cheesy crossover vibe with Endless Torment, what they have produced is straight up savage and channels a vibe more akin to Beneath the Remains and Arise era Sepultura with its razor sharp and tight rhythms which erupt into a frenzy without a moment’s pause. Add in a dash of Cause for Alarm era Agnostic Front style to the mix and you get yourself a really special collection of tracks which are still hardcore enough for the old fans and more than metal enough for a new set of ears who may not be as familiar with the hardcore scene.
Bringing the EP’s sound to life was a task undertaken by Arthur Rizk who is responsible for outputs by the likes of Power Trip & Kreator. The sound on this release is absolutely superb, it’s a big step up from the band's World at War album and if i'm honest has an atmosphere more in line with the energy the band brings on to the stage. This in my opinion takes the band just onto another level especially with tracks like Tears of the Wolf and Hard Reset which raise the song writing output of the band without losing the underground spark & edge to them.
Endless Torment collects five new cuts of devastating crossover. Where a lot of metallic hardcore bands tend to steer into a more straight up metal territory which normally sees them lose the spark and magic of what made them special, Dead Heat tweak the sound and keep their DIY integrity firmly in place.
