Condemned to Misery

Condemned To Misery is the debut full length from east Londoners Dead Beyond Buried and as their name may give away it just happens to be a healthy slab of death metal. And damn fine death metal this is too.

The first time I heard this band I was shocked to find that they possess such an old fashioned style of death metal but whilst it did surprise me it did not disappoint me in the slightest. These guys were recreating the nostalgic feel of old death metal and they were doing it damn well. There are several bands bringing back old school death metal to the masses through new music of a similar style to older stuff. But whilst some bands exclusively use the "old school" gimmick to sell albums, Dead Beyond Buried don't push on this aspect of their music so the record doesn't seem as forced as some bands. *Cough* Bloodbath *Cough*

Lyrically this is death metal fitting more to the darker side of the of the genre. The lyrics are less about gore, it still gets a look in mind, and more about insanity, hate, depression ect. Personally whilst I love a bit of gory silliness from bands like Cannibal Corpse I do still enjoy the less outrageous but much more sinister lyrics of darker sounding death metal. This album seems to be pretty focused on its topics and I can tell you its not exactly a cheery listen. But then again with a title consisting of just 3 words one of which being condemned and another being misery I can't imagine anyone would pick this record up in the hope that it's a concept album about happy little elves enjoying a day of kite flying.

Vocally this album is good with interesting mixes between the classic death metal lows and devastating screeches. It works well and the vocalist, Oli, just adds to the old school feel of the band. I have personally became more aware of the change to traditional death metal vocals over the years. Whilst low growls are still the norm in the genre the sound and approach to performing these low growls has changed over time. The old death metal vocal style seems more audible than what has replaced it in recent years so if something that keeps you away from new death metal is the "brutal" style of vocals then you have nothing to worry about with this album.

The music on this album fits nicely with the lyrical themes and the whole album is a large mass of devastating death metal that doesn't forget to bring a good amount of melody to the mix. It feels sinister and creepy when the more simple but melodic death metal riffs are thrown into the songs. For example the opening riff of the closing track Skinned And Bled is a brilliant intro to one of the strongest tracks on the album. It sounds cold, vile and generally packs a lot of feeling into the tune. The guitar and bass work is very nicely done throughout as you can not go far without finding a brilliantly evil sounding riff.

The drums also remain impressive through out and don't distract from the music by showing off at any point. Too many times have I listened to brilliant death metal bands plagued by a wanker with a drum set attempting to get noticed by doing the most "insane", technical and "cool" drumming you have ever heard. I also noticed that the drums are surprisingly well recorded on this record. Dead Beyond Buried's debut release has better drum recording than some bands who have been around for twice maybe even thrice as long.

Though the music is all great on this release I could of done with two things.
A tiny bit more variation and some guitar solos. Don't get me wrong I know over indulgent musicians help kill music in the end. *Cough* Necrophagist *Cough* But even with that in mind I would of loved some melodic solos to flow with the cold evil sounding death metal riffs.

All together if you enjoy old or new death metal this album is well worth a listen. Its melodic yet brutal and well rounded at a good 55 minutes long. Check these lads out now!