Do you cherish your mind?
Back in 1995 Deceased dubbed their music, “death metal from the grave,” and I still can’t think of a better way to describe it. The Blueprints for Madness is definitely the most varied and spastic release to date, even compared to Surreal Overdose, which in my opinion, is the closest Deceased has come to this type of aggression in nearly 20 years. It’s easy to overlook, or even forget about The Blueprints for Madness because of the different direction the band took afterwards, not to mention the exceedingly high quality of the material, but this album (and even The 13 Frightened Souls EP) still remains some of the most original, high-octane metal to this day.
Part of what makes this album so good is, oddly enough, its production. With high treble and low bass in mind, the guitars sound like a buzz saw while King’s drumming is overstated and very much in the foreground, a combined effect that alludes to a low budget recording, or more appropriately, an old B-movie, which I can reasonably presume King had intended from the outset since these are the exact lyrical themes the band explores. No doubt, the music is raw as hell, but also energetic and spastic, shifting constantly from one rhythm to the next, while King’s inhuman, sickening shrieks and screams tell macabre stories that likewise were lifted from the world of cult horror and science fiction films.
Speaking of which, King’s voice is oftentimes easily understood, so you’ll never miss a line about, “the missing men lost throughout the years,” or “maniacal screams, a suicide pact, a lasting tone it rings.” Whatever he sings about, he does so in amazing clarity and also in a storybook fashion with plenty of rhyming and prosody to add a sense of progression and ultimately climax, as the musical integrity of each track also vibrates with the emotional intensity of King’s voice. Indeed, every aspect of the music is interwoven tautly and delivered like an opera so that no single element is ever out of place or over-emphasized without a good reason. Impact is what this album is all about, and Deceased creates exactly that with what appears to be little effort.
Songs are unpredictable and random, in a sense, but always sensible in their progression. It seems like the band follows an impromptu agenda at times, so wild and crazy the music gets, but make no mistake, each song is crafted thoughtfully, making the album as a whole pretty damn suspenseful and surprising. Like a good thriller novel, a twist awaits at every turn and you’ll never guess what direction the story will take, and Deceased writes their stories very well indeed.
Calling this stuff death metal is somewhat of a stretch, since it’s unconventional even for death metal; it’s like a primitive, primeval soup of all its ingredients outlined by thrash sensibilities, without any regards to the rules of either sub-genre. It truly is a genre-bending sound that 1995 perhaps wasn’t ready for but definitely a stylistic direction that would become the hallmark of the band on subsequent albums. Indeed, if there’s anything you need to take away from Deceased, it’s that they always look ahead (e.g. Fearless Undead Machines came out of nowhere) and when they release a new album the whole world needs to pay attention.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcwFu-yUSj4]
