Degradead
s/t

Melodic death metal from Sweden is how one can describe Degradead. And that can hardly be described as the most unique of things considering how many similar Swedish bands there are. But I have reviewed these guys before and I think that they have been rather good even though I would have liked to see them shed the shackles of the genre to find a voice that is more of their own. They are celebrating fifteen years this year so the album is a bit of a jubilee and for that occasion they have decided to self-title it and give it a nice clean cover art to make it look a very interesting album. The question now is whether or not they have managed to break the shackles of the genre to really take off towards the starry winter skies.

Well, the stylistic isn’t that new, they mix clear vocals with growls; they build on catchy choruses kind of like the recipe that has usually worked well for the bands in the melodeath genre. They do well with simple tricks and what they do has been done by many, including themselves, before and they do not really strive far from well-threaded paths. Excellent production is a great plus for this album, very elegant soundscape and it is hard not to be grabbed by it. Decent variation over the tracks, much in line with what one can expect from an album of this genre and I generally think that they hit the right button seen from the genre perspective.

If they want to stand out, to offer something new, something different, then they need to do something completely different, something that does not really seem to be found amongst these guys. They make a very good album, the songs are great and the choruses are very catchy and spontaneously it is very hard not to be impressed with what you hear. But one can analyse albums in many ways and from many different perspectives and from a critical standpoint the album has a much harder time to impress. What is missing is that fresh perspective that unique Degradead trademark sound, the thing that makes you think of Degradead and their songs rather than what bands you can compare them with – I think they could gain a lot from finding a little more personal profile. Don’t get me wrong now, I like this, musically it is very good and fans of this kind of music should really like this album – the thing is that making a good album that sounds just about like some other album is not what constitutes a fantastic album.

It seems very geared towards a certain group of fans and I am sure that they like the album as well. I, on the other hand miss a sense of novelty, I always want each new album I hear to sound like something I have not heard before and this does not. It is pretty good and Degradead do what they do really well but from a serious critic’s standpoint it is difficult to really validate what they are doing as they aren’t really doing anything that hasn’t already been released. So, for all of you who like this genre and Degradead this is an album you should not miss.

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