{"id":30600,"date":"2013-07-01T21:51:45","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T02:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=30600"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:37:00","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:37:00","slug":"deadlands-evilution-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/deadlands-evilution-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadlands | Evilution<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Deadlands\"Fronted by ex-Vicious Rumors vocalist Brian O\u2019Connor, this red-blooded American heavy metal band will make fans that crave power and thrash in equal measures happier than an ailurophobic running over a stray cat. Deadlands\u2019 DNA consists of bands like Exodus, Testament, Helstar, Forbidden, Metallica, Overkill, Heathen \u2026 you get the drift.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re looking for originality and creativity, you are hereby advised to move along, \u2018cause there\u2019s nothing to see here. But if you\u2019re just looking to have your butt whooped by some rip-roaring, hard rocking heavy metal, then pull up a chair, crack a cold one, and stay awhile. Deadlands will neither stun you nor bum you; they just buckle down and get the job done, that job being to deliver oldschool American power\/thrash metal filtered through modern production aesthetics. <\/p>\n

The formula is simple: take a fierce guitarist, pair him with a good vocalist, surround them with competent musicians, and presto, you\u2019ve got yourself a metal band that won\u2019t embarrass themselves. Deadlands is just such a band. They\u2019ve got the sound down pat, with enough chainsaw riffs and whiplash rhythms to keep the headbangers happy and enough sociopolitical lyrics to ensure nobody accuses them of Velveeta songwriting.<\/p>\n

Speaking of songs, they tend to vary in terms of quality, vacillating between \u201ckickass,\u201d \u201ckind of cool,\u201d and \u201cjust okay.\u201d In the kickass category, you\u2019ve got \u201cGround and Pound\u201d with its skull-stomping aggression, snarling attitude, and gang vocal chorus, or \u201cGone Wrong\u201d which features a hard rocking tempo with tear-it-up guitars and patriotic lyrics like \u201cPraise the Lord \/ Pass the ammunition.\u201d Ted Nugent would approve.<\/p>\n

In the kind of cool section of the bleachers perch tracks like \u201cFinal Solution\u201d which is a thundering thrash metal anthem that shouts its support for American Armed Forces with eyebrow-arcing lyrics like \u201cYou know we don\u2019t take no shit \/ American forces, we come well equipped \/ We\u2019re the final solution \/ When the shit hits the fan.\u201d Hell yeah, did someone order a side of \u201cHoo-ah!\u201d to go with their metal? <\/p>\n

And if \u201cjust okay\u201d is just fine with you, then \u201cPandemic Genocide\u201d fits the bill, sounding like the bastard stepchild of Overkill and Metallica but without a good hook to really grab your attention. The closing track, \u201cShed My Skin,\u201d suffers from the same problem, serving up plenty of metal fury but without really digging its claws into your throat and demanding another listen.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, this is a solid U.S.-style heavy\/thrash\/power metal album. Nothing more, nothing less. There are hundreds of better heavy metal bands out there \u2026 but there are thousands worse, and that pretty much tells you all you need to know. Deadlands may not be the next great evolutionary step in heavy metal \u2026 but they\u2019re not a bunch of talentless monkeys either.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nSteve Northam (bass)
\nDan Sablan (drums)
\nKevin Rohr (lead guitar)
\nMichael J. Gardner (lead guitar)
\nBrian O\u2019Connor (vocals)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Pandemic Genocide
\n2. Deadlands
\n3. Ground and Pound
\n4. Final Solution
\n5. She\u2019s On Fire
\n6. Asphyxiate the Masses
\n7. Path We\u2019ve Chosen
\n8. Gone Wrong
\n9. Legions of the Damned
\n10. Shed My Skin<\/p>\n

Label: Massacre Records<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.facebook.com\/deadlandsmusic<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — Fronted by ex-Vicious Rumors vocalist Brian O\u2019Connor, this red-blooded American heavy metal band will make fans that crave power and thrash in equal measures happier than an ailurophobic […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,2491,780,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-30600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd","9":"tag-heavy-metal","10":"tag-massacre-records","11":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}