DEADLOCK

Bizarro World

Lifeforce
rating icon 2.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Virus Jones
02. State Of Decay
03. Falling Skywards
04. Earthlings
05. You Left Me Dead
06. Brutal Romance
07. Alienation
08. Renegade
09. Htrae
10. Bizarro World
11. Paranoia Extravaganza


What happened to this once great band? In 2005 the German act released a magnificent album called "Earth.Revolt" that took convincing Gothenburg melo-death and mixed it up with superb keyboard atmospherics and the enchanting vocals of Sabine Weniger. Its follow-up ("Wolves") didn't reach the same heights but demonstrated some expansion and songwriting consistency. "Earth.Revolt" in particular — at least for that period of time — was proof that there was not only a lot of life left in what some might generally term melodic metalcore, but that a band playing this style could raise their game through compositional depth and catchy songwriting. I recall thinking that 2008's "Manifesto" was a step in the wrong direction, but don't remember much else about it. But time spent with new album "Bizarro World" was painful. The music has become bland, pop-based metalcore, which is disappointing coming from a group that held so much promise. As such, the pain of having to skewer this album is sharper than usual.

The biggest problem with "Bizarro World" doesn't concern poor musicianship or — presumably anyway — lack of effort. The biggest problem is that the typical Americanized AT THE GATES metalcore aggression that is contrasted with shining, Weniger-sung pop melodies on the choruses — constituting the majority of this album — either falls completely flat or comes off irksomely awkward. Coming in close behind is the problem of hooks; there aren't any. As I've noted in the past, cleanly sung chorus melodies do not automatically equate to catchy ones. "Brutal Romance" is an unfortunate case in point. In addition, the manner in which the aggressive verses shift to clean choruses is so abrupt as to seem disconnected. The keyboard/electronic aspects add very little to most tracks and when presented on songs like "State of Decay" and "Falling Skywards" it almost makes things worse. At times an idea seems like it might blossom into something more promising, as is the case with the electronic pop 'n chug of "Renegade" (complete with some soul diva lines from Weniger),but what might otherwise be considered an attempt at something only RAUNCHY has perfected ends up in a state of total collapse.

In fairness, there are songs like "Virus Jones" that while hardly anything to write home about will at least appeal to fans of bands like IN THIS MOMENT. Doesn't seem like much of a consolation prize, does it? Even the interludes (e.g. "Alienation") end up more distracting than is typical. "Bizarro World" just doesn't work and comes off as more of a mess than anything else. I didn't expect DEADLOCK to top what they accomplished on even "Wolves", but in no uncertain terms did I expect them to fall this far. Somewhere along the way the wheels fell off and DEADLOCK ended up in "Bizarro World". A big time disappointment.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).