Dead Conspiracy
Dead Conspiracy
(Self-Release)
Aside from hipsters, you’re going to find some great metal acts in Portland if you know where to look. One of these is that of Dead Conspiracy, a classic styled death/thrash act that takes as much from Slayer and Sodom as they do from Death and Deicide. Even Mike Abomniator’s vocals remind me of Deicide’s “Dead By Dawn” which is still one of my favorite all-time cuts from the act. This horridly demonic vocal approach seems to sail along the sea of heavily hammered drums, speedy guitars and heavily drudging bass moments which manifests a sort of perfect disharmony on the disc. This self-titled record actually feels like it came from a band that has been playing this style of music since the eighties (they released several demos around that time) and it captures the raw, almost punk-like energy of that early punk-to-death scene that most people seem to forget about. Here at New Noise, we work with both acts from the punk and heavy metal scenes, and even though I’m not much a fan of punk in it’s modern incarnation; I can still respect how much these two genres have in common and how influential they were to each other. Yes, the same goes for black metal. Much of metal’s extremity was found in punk, which is what I’m getting at here.
These gentlemen just sound fucking vicious, with a performance that nearly emulates that which you’ll get on the stage. I like that the disc sounds as raw and organic as it does, because you don’t really get that anymore. These guys are inspired by acts that I’m sure I’ve not even heard of as I was just a grim baby in those days, but that I think adds more to the appeal of them. I mean, this disc is simply relentless, in your face and full-force in a way that very few bands manage to get right. When you really want to hear what extreme metal sounded like in it’s earlier days, this is a good history lesson. But it doesn’t need to be just that! Keep in mind that very few acts sound like this anymore and you’ll have to go back in time to hear anything even remotely close. As I said, this record could have came out in the late eighties/early nineties and I think it would have been heavily hailed during that era. Hopefully we’ve still got enough old heads out there, or enough curious new heads out there to check it out. Don’t even dare use the word “outdated” on this, as you’re just not getting it. Perhaps there’s a Whitechapel album you can check out instead, but even if you do decide to go that route, just know that even bands like Whitechapel owe acts like this more than you could possibly ever understand.
All in all, Dead Conspiracy is a massive history lesson that you’ll want to take again and again. This really is the missing link between punk rock and death metal, which is going to open up a slew of doors for you, I’m sure. Though it’s their second album, it certainly feels like the genre being done right. I’d definitely recommend getting your hands on this short, but unquestionably volatile album that I’m quite sure will be appreciated by more listeners than I’m even aware of. Though some might say it’s a little late in the day for such an early style of music, I know that albums like this will be highly coveted by older heads throughout the world and that is where the appeal truly lies. I still need to reinforce the fact that you whippersnappers out there need to get your hands on it as well, as I guarantee that you’re going to hear several things on just one record that you don’t normally hear from most of your mainstays, and that’s going to come at you in less than an hour.
