German band Deserted Fear have been in the scene for over a decade now. Known for playing classic death metal characterized by the use of Hooklines the group has given us some good albums like Kingdom of worms or 2017’s Dead Shores Rising. Comprising members Manuel Smatter on vocals and guitars, Fabian Hilderbrandt, “Seppl” on bass and Simon Megs behind the kit, we are here to checkout their fourth studio album – ‘Drowned by Humanity’
Artwork has been done in a typically classic death metal style sketching out dark imagery, almost a mountain of sorts rooted to the ground with trees. Its simple yet quite interesting. Coming to the music itself, in addition to the classic death metal elements there is a lot of thrash infused. The tracks have heavy and powerful riffage going on in them in songs like ‘An Everlasting Dawn’ yet also give us plenty of groove and melody. ‘All will Fall’ and ‘Stench of Misery’ are examples with very strong and catchy melodic bits in the chorus. The album also uses some symphonic and instrumental elements. The opening ‘Intro’ has a very Hollywood vibe to it and almost feels like something you would hear in the trailer of a blockbuster movie. ‘Across the open sea’ is shorter in comparison and serves more like an interlude building up to the next song ‘Welcome to Reality’. Manuel’s vocals are strong and he along with fellow guitarist Hilderbrandt offer some soulful rhythm sections throughout the album married to great drumming patterns as played by Megs.
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At 47 minutes long, this does seem to feel like it’s a lot longer and tends to get a little repetitive. It also loses steam from the second half onward. The songs are catchy no doubt but achieve this in sections and does not come together on the whole, so the listener is sort of in and out throughout the audio experiences as some sections are not as engaging. The ambient tracks are either too short or a too different from the actual sound of the record and somehow feels very disconnected from the overall album. Production is quite good however I feel that the guitars are a bit too loud and drowned the bass and vocals. Overall this is a good album, its well made and plays out nicely too but after listening to it multiple times it seems to lack the opiate that makes music grow on you and it does not register as an album I want to have on repeat. Maybe that’s the way it is or maybe its just me. The album comes out in the first week of February 2019 and will be available through vinyl, CD, and digitally and I reckon its worth a listen as it has a couple of great tracks and plenty of beautiful riffage but how will it fare against the test of time? That only time will tell.
‘Drowned by Humanity’ has some potential, offers some good tracks with catchy and soulful rhythm guitar coupled to great drumming, and its amalgamation of classic death metal with thrash elements provide an interesting experience which may come as a hit or miss depending your how you perceive it.
