Degradead
The Monster Within

The Swedes of Degradead are back once again, this time they have a monster within. A monster that seems to be trying to get out, it tries to get out through a dark black hole in the cover. An evil monster it seems. It is the fourth studio album by these guys and the last one along with the DVD was reviewed by me, not considered a massive success but nevertheless they were well approved. I have liked them both, but they have been a bit up and down, now we have to see if they can be a bit more solid on the higher level.

Melodic death metal is what it is, modern melodic death metal is what it is about. It sounds more or less like the genre in general sounds, nothing that spectacularly stands out just melodic death metal as it tends to sound today. Two voices, clean and growly where the growly is a bit rougher than the general consensus and the clean one is as consented by the genre in general. Scar Symmetry is a good reference for those of you who have heard them. Built on strong choruses and melodies it walks down a path walked many times before. Not the least by the band themselves, it does not differ much from what they have done before. Maybe the production is a tad on the weaker side, I would have liked a bit more power but it is solid nevertheless. And a forty minute playing time is a decent choice especially as the album is fairly varied as well.

I admit that this is a good album, two of the tracks are brilliant and the other eight are quite ordinary, solid tracks according to the code of the genre. It is a solid album, well made with an only weakness in it being fairly ordinary for what the genre has to offer, except for the two brilliant tracks I previously mentioned. Track four Dead Becomes Alive is a song with an excellent chorus and an overall catchy song. I think this band are best in their catchiest way. We’ll Meet Again is a calmer song that is another piece of brilliance in this album, too bad the entire album isn’t up to this standard.

In the end I think that I can conclude that this is a very good album, that is if you already are a fan of Degradead. I can also conclude that it would be a good idea to look closer at this album if you are a big fan of the melodic death metal genre, maybe look before you buy though. The Monster Within is a solid album, it is well made and is fantastic in its best moments.

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