Of What'S To Come

I'm rather new to this genre (technical death metal).I've mostly been into the more melodic side of death and black metal,but that genre has started to become stale.So as a musician I really wanted to get into to this technical death metal.But I had a hard time getting into to this genre at first,until this album came along!

Finally a album I truly enjoy! Deeds of Flesh's "Of what's to Come" has a sound I can get into.With fast hammer-on hammer-off style riffs that blaze threw every string and fret,mixed with aggressive chords and fast tremolo picking,and some impressive and melodic solos. It truly shows that Erik Lindmark and Sean Southern know how to play there instruments and they complement each other very well through-out the whole album and as another reviewer I read some where puts it "it makes Necrophagist's Muhammed Suiçmez's riffs sound simplistic by comparison" and I couldn't agree more.
But the riffing isn't the only thing that's impressive with this album; Mike Hamilton's drumming is exciting,fast and technical,he knows how to bring out the rhythm in each guitar riff and also shows off his skills and endurance at the same time.Erland Caspersen also puts on an impressive display with his bass and he is clearly a asset to the sound of this album.He doesn't get to be in the spotlight of the music much but when he is,he shows great skills and fast bass lines that will most likely become stuck in your head after.
The vocals are great too with the mix of death and black vocals is a perfect mixture; There also layered perfectly at times to give the music that extra aggressive push where it needs it.In addition the lyrics are clearly audible,which is a good thing I think because then you can follow the theme of the album.
The theme of the album and lyrics are quite good also.It's about advanced life forms from another planet that invades earth and kills all humans for this valuable life energy (Virvum) that's used for weapons,space traveling,and other tools that fuel there species.On the last song it seems the humans are getting ready to fight and take back the planet that once was theirs,by taking advantage of the aliens one mistake...underestimating the humans.As cheesy as that sounds it's actually well written like a story line to a movie and I heard the story is going to continue on the next album.It's a refreshing change from the same old gore and guts theme that's for sure.
The song writing is good also,it does have times that wont really grab your attention though.It definitely takes repetitive listens for this album to grab you (as with all technical death metal).That's not to say it doesn't have riffs that will instantly grab you though.It still has those catchy and head banging riffs,just with a technical twist: I think that's reason why I liked this album more then any other technical death metal album I got before it.If it was a bit more heavier and catchier though,I would have gave it a 5 star.

Anyways this review as become way too long.But I hope I've helped you decide to purchase this album or not.Any technical death metal fan will love it.But loyal Deeds of Flesh fans might be disappointed by this technical release as it lacks those simple hooks of their past albums,but I like it. It's something new and different for Deeds of Flesh,which after 15 years I'm sure they need.

i've now listened to this recording 8 times in the past 36 hours. I was REALLY looking forward to this realease as Deeds is one of my very favorite bands. I have all of their releases except Path of the Weakening (which i understand many consider their best). Deeds has almost always done an excellent job of combining top musicianship, complex arrangements and great brutal songwriting.

My initial reaction to this release is disappointment. the first two elements in addition to an excellent production (some will appreciate that Mike's snare strikes are a lot less pronounced) are here but my feeling is the songwriting is lacking. much of the material seems like it was written to showcase playing skills. as Deeds "warned" us, there are actually guitar solos on this one and that's ok but Deeds worked fine without solos. while impressive musicianship is important, i'm having trouble grabbing onto any of the riffs or transitions making for a tiring listen. i'm also having a hard time identifying much content that sounds like any Deeds i know. this is a bit of a different style for them. there are some pieces here and there which resemble Inbreeding the Anthropophagi material but its otherwise not distinctly Deeds of Flesh. i dare say i hear hints of Suffocation, Decaptitated and Cryptopsy mixed in.

as the Hypocrisy album title 'Catch 22' suggests, a band's decision to continue making the same album over and over again versus going in a different direction (even if slight) is a difficult one. some fans may be lost either way. personally, i was hoping for a happy medium between the technicality of Inbreeding the Anthropophagi and grooving of Reduced to Ashes or Mark of the Legion. that's not what i got.

they haven't lost my fanship with this but i doubt it will ever be one my favorites. overall, the album is definitely worth having but falls quite short of perfection. i had trouble deiciding between 3 or 4 stars but settled on 3.

This was another band that i had been meaning to give a listen to adn then when it was available for download for $5 i jumped at the chance. I went with this album due mostly to it being one of the more recent releases and I was very please to find that these guys delivered. This album is very brutal and very well composed with a classic Death Metal sound (think Diecide, Cannibal Corpse, ect.). The album does get a little long in the tooth towards the end but is a satisfying listen all-around. I highly recomend giving this band a listen and i will be looking to get a few more of their releases in the future.