Deadlock – Bizarro World

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Lifeforce Records
Produced by Sebastian Reichl

One of the main things that most metal fans fear is the heaviness decay of our favourite artists. Countless rants and complaints have been made from fans about how Metallica, In Flames, Within Temptation or whoever else used to be heavy and now make far more mainstream music. This is something we as metal fans have sadly come to expect, ever baffled that our favourite artists would change the style that was so successful in gaining our interest for something supposedly more popular.

Perhaps in the case of Deadlock something like this was inevitable. Although Deadlock work very well as just a straight up melodeath band, what made them unique was the addition of a female singer and (sometimes rather inappropriate and amusing) techno parts. It never took away from their heaviness, and whilst the band would do the odd soft song, it all seemed to fit very well.

Bizarro World however really walks the line between keeping to their old roots and falling into making mainstream music, and for some it might in fact cross that line. First of all, where’s on prior records harsh vocalist Johannes Prem was the more dominant of the band’s two singers, with this record the tables have turned. This is very much Sabine Scherer’s record, taking the lead for most of the album. Whilst there are plenty of harsh vocals, they really do sink into the back of your mind on Bizarro World – where’s previously they were one of the dominating aspects of Deadlock’s style.

This change in dynamic reflects on the rest of the record. This is a noticeably softer and more mainstream sounding record. The production has a much cleaner sound, and quite often sounds far too polished. More worryingly though are the songs themselves. The album’s opening track Virus Jones doesn’t give too much indication of a change of direction – Prem is still prominent – it quickly becomes noticeable afterward. The choice of lead single, State of Decay, offers some hint on the band’s mainstream ambitions. One would be stretched considerably to find evidence of the band’s prior harder style on this song, being not much more than a mid-pace pop song with some subtle distorted guitars and the odd guitar solo. Most mainstream symphonic metal bands sound heavier. This isn’t the only occurrence on the album either; You Left Me Dead might have heavier guitars (but just slightly) and harsh vocals, but its still very much in the mid-paced rock category. Songs like these are more likely to appeal to fans of Within Temptation or Lacuna Coil than they are to some of Deadlock’s existing fanbase.

Its worth noting that Sabine has improved as singer in general, though. She was always an okay singer but not anything special, where as on this record she does sound like she has improved considerably. She struggles to really make ballads work still (Paranoia Extravaganza, the album’s final track, doesn’t quite have the emotion a similar song by, say, Epica might have), but her increased presence does seem to have come with an improved quality as well.

There are still songs that are more keeping to Deadlock’s existing style, though Sabine’s increased presence reflects on them as well. Songs like the aforementioned Virus Jones and Earthlings are decent enough tracks – had they appeared on the band’s prior albums they would certainly be among the more melodic entries but that’s no bad thing. It just seems like a shame that even on songs such as these the band’s heavier edge seems to have been blunted.

The other factor of the band to consider is the band’s love of techno sections. The expected progression of the band would be they would incorporate more techno elements, and whilst Bizarro World doesn’t have as much techno as you might expect, its still definitely there. The chorus of Renegade, an otherwise soft Sabine-driven song, sounds startlingly like Pendulum, and synthesizer noises play a prominent role in middle track Brutal Romance.

All of this stylistic shifting however doesn’t come with some rewards though, as heard on the track Htrae (Earth backwards – and if you know how that relates to the band’s title track, congratulations on being more geeky than this reviewer!). If the rest of the album lifted eyebrows and asked awkward questions, then this song comes as a welcome break. A very reflective, progressive track that really shows what the band could be capable of – heavy, emotional, bombastic, and playing to all of the band’s strengths. Like much of this album it’s still a move away from what came before – but for all the best reasons.

Bizarro World really is a hard sell. It is by no means a bad album – on the contrary, this is actually a pretty good album. The trouble is that this album is almost guaranteed to alienate much of its audience by looking to capture a more mainstream audience or pandering to fans who only come to listen to a female singer. It would take a great album to recover goodwill lost; and whilst Bizarro World is a good record, it might not be good enough for those who prefer their melodic death metal to still retain its sense of heaviness. It might, however, be just good enough to attract new listeners who were put off by the band’s former heavy direction.

“ noticeably softer and more mainstream ”

Tracklist: Virus Jones / State of Decay / Falling Skywards / Earthlings / You Left Me Dead / Brutal Romance / Alienation / Renegade / Htrae / Bizarro World / Paranoid Extravaganza

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Death Metal, Female-fronted, Deadlock