Degradead - Til Death Do Us Apart

Published February 11 2008

*=Staff's pick	Genetic Waste* Take Control* Pass Away Burned* Relations To The Humanity The Bloodchain The Fallen Day Of The Dead Resemblance Of The Past* Reborn Til Death Do Us Apart

Genre	Thrash/Death Metal	Mikael Sehlin	Vocals
Tracks	11	Anders Nyström	Guitar
Runningtime	41 Min.	David Szücs	Guitar
Label	Dockyard1	Michel Bärzén	Bass
Release	04 February 2008	Kenneth Helgesson	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	At The Gates

Stockholm-based thrash/death combo Degradead certainly has In Flames to thank for a lot, given that it's one of Sweden's most popular metal bands that have praised them, guitarist and founder Jesper Strömblad even calling them "the future of metal". Great publicity of course, but also a lot to live up to for five young guys whose life-long dream of a record deal has finally come true. Lucky for Degradead then, that Til Death Do Us Apart is an astounding piece of work, and a very promising debut.

The big question is of course, exactly how much In Flames does this sound? The answer is: not that much. While H.O.R.D.E (which stands for all the members of In Flames except for the vocalist Anders Fridén) have created a production that certainly has the typical Gothenburg-touch we recognize pretty well by now, the music itself has a different ring to it. Mikael Sehlin's vocals are harsher than Fridén's for example, and the songs in general are faster and thrashier. If I have to compare Til Death Do Us Apart to something, it's rather At The Gates' landmark album Slaughter Of The Soul. And that is, indeed, a very good grade.

The most impressing aspect of Til Death Do Us Apart is the diversity. Degradead have collected the best parts of their demo years and H.O.R.D.E have made sure to keep all the songs within the frames of the album. The rather melancholic melodies of The Fallen, the furious Bay Area-riffing in Resemblance Of The Past, the keyboard-heavy, almost radio-friendly Pass Away and the all-acoustic instrumental that is the title track are just a few of the highlights in this entertaining mix. The two stand-out tracks are however Take Control and Burned - awesome thrash-songs that even justify Jesper Strömblad's predictions.

We're just one and a half month into 2008, but I can almost assure you that Til Death Do Us Apart will be THE debut album of the year; something else would come as a great surprise.

See also review of: Out Of Body Experience

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	7	8	7	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Niklas