Dead Squad - Horror Vision (2009)

So a few years ago, a friend of mine decided that he was going to delete all the music he had gained through pirating in an expression of support to the musicians, and in a weekend, went from an iTunes library of something like 70GB to almost nothing.  I know, I thought he was crazy too, but I had to respect the man for choosing his stance and sticking to it.  Anyways, after he deleted all his copyrighted music, he started going through metal relapses and in desperation, found a website dedicated to posting free metal albums (with the permission of the artists).  It's called Death Metal Invasion, and it's in the link tab - check it out.

Proper Metal Logo: can't read it for shit.

Anyways, while he was digging around in this blog, he came across the album Horror Vision by Indonesia-based death metal band Dead Squad.  Now apparently, Indonesia has a pretty big underground metal scene.  I guess it makes sense that I wouldn't know a lot about it in California (hence, underground), and so we didn't think much about this album when we started listening.  But after a couple long drives to Amoeba Records in Hollywood listening to Horror Vision, I realized I really liked the album.  And I didn't just like it; I started comparing my other albums to it.  Because it's that good.

Horror Vision is a fast, brutal gem of an album; clocking in at just over a half hour, it's short, and it jams a whole lot of awesome shit into that short span of time.  The first track, "Pasukan Mati," begins with a massively dramatic and corny synth intro echoic of black metal, which would be too much if the synth showed up again before the last song, but it doesn't, so it's badass.  Then you're slammed into the song itself, characterized by a catchy tremolo-picked melody line that will get stuck in your head all day.

Remind anyone else of Pan's Labyrinth? 

Their drummer (I couldn't bring myself to fight through broken english band descriptions to figure out his name) really does a great job at following the guitar and basslines without losing brutality, and the guy has some decent chops at least - his blasts are fast and, more importantly, in time, which is more than we can say about Travis Barker.  The guitar lines are busy, harmonized, and alternate nicely between powerful chugs and badass lead riffs, with a speckling of technically impressive guitar solos.  The vocals have been the point of contest in other reviews I have read - the singer definitely lacks the guttural growl of most death metal, instead vying for a vocal style that sounds more similar to metalcore, a trait which I'm sure will turn many death metal fans away.  But, if you give it a chance, the vocal style really matches the musical style; despite lacking the guttural element of death growls, the vocals are still raspier and more harsh than, say, Chimaira's or August Burns Red's vocal styles (thank god).

Speaking of metalcore vocal styles, Horror Vision definitely has some hardcore influences.  The bands use of breakdowns is quite similar to those of many run-of-the-mill "[verb] the [noun]" metalcore bands, but what sets Dead Squad apart from metalcore in my book is their tasteful use of breakdowns.  They rarely slow down to the intensely slow drag common in metalcore breakdowns, and they use drastic tempo changes only to contrast with the speed and ferocity of the rest of the album.

There are a couple highlight of the album that stand out as particularly impressive.  "Manufaktur Replika Baptis" has a fun jazz breakdown in the first half of the song, which, while it isn't very good jazz, provides a nice contrast for the rest of the song.  And, "Dominasi Belati" has a great breakdown-ish section with pinch harmonics that will make your hair stand on end (and to those out there that have this misconception that pinch harmonics are "hardcore" and not metal: get your head out of your ass, listen to a fucking Nile song, and then go fuck yourself).

Overall?  Fun album.  Especially for something being given away for free.  And, this is comparing Dead Squad to other signed death metal names - compared to the recording quality and musical quality of most free metal, Horror Vision is a gem amongst asswipes.

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