Review by Sandre the Giant
I’ve followed Heads for the Dead for all of their releases so far, and their horror tinged death metal assault has always been a low key favourite of mine over the years. I was particularly fond of their debut ‘Serpent’s Curse’, and their third full length ‘The Great Conjuration’ is out at the start of September through Transcending Obscurity, a label who have nurtured their skills since the start.
‘The Jewel of the Seven Stars’ originally feels very meat and potatoes death metal until the latter half, where you begin to feel the horror-tinged atmospheres begin to swell and it feels a little sermon-like, a dark ceremony for conjuring evil. That’s what Heads for the Dead do so well, just when you feel like it is going to be straight forward death metal they add something a little atmospheric or creepy in to keep you focused. It draws on their work from ‘Slash ‘N’ Roll’ a lot, adding this new atmospheric edge into a crusty death metal assault with aplomb. ‘The Covenant’ is a crunchy rager with a slower pace that allows a lot of the excellent guitar work to breathe, while the rampage of ‘The Breaking Wheel’ is a more traditional smash through classic European death metal-isms. ‘The Bloodline’ is a big, chunky Bolt Thrower-esque bruiser, while the heavy metal thunder of ‘Bloody Hammer’ is a personal highlight, a little like King Diamond as death metal.
Heads for the Dead have built their sound slowly and surely through their previous releases to culminate in this; a perfect storm of varied and brutally efficient death metal that doesn’t forget about the horror roots of their influences and keeps that eerie atmosphere rearing its sinister head when appropriate. This results in ‘The Great Conjuration’ being a triumph of death and horror, and the band reaching a peak faster than I expected!
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https://headsforthedead.bandcamp.com/