After the Funeral – Dehydrated
By Flork!
(photo source: Facebook official page)
Well, perhaps the first thing necessary to mention is that there are in fact, two bands called Dehydrated, one of which comes from somewhere far away in the Siberian taiga, a young death metal quartet (a death metal quartet?) with a dangerous mix of expertly crafted brutality and fury (as per their YouTube sound description) and quite possibly singing in either Russian or English or whatever, either way I can’t understand what the songs are about since it all sounds like Satan coming home after a bad day at the office to an angry wife and ADHD kids, but who cares? I’m sure few people listen to them for their lyrics anyways. And from what I gathered from the comments section of the first video that came up (I forget the name of the song), these guys have also recently released their fourth full-length studio album (as with the other band called Dehydrated), and whom I had never even heard of until just a few hours ago after typing their name in the YouTube search box.
But enough about the Russian group. The other band, who is also called Dehydrated, is a death metal quintet hailing from Western Slovakia, from perhaps the least-metal town I can possibly think of on the planet – Piešťány (I’ll talk about this place in a moment). They too describe themselves as Death Metal, yet unlike the Dehydrated from the previous paragraph, they have been around for 30 years now, forming way back after the Iron Curtain fell in 1991. And although I totally love the sound of the Russian Dehydrated group (I always love that moment of surprise when I discover the lead singer is female), I’ll likely save a review of their stuff for another time, since my task this evening is to write something about the fourth studio album from their homonymous colleagues in Slovakia.
As I mentioned just a few moments ago, the Slovak group Dehydrated has been around for some time and is by far the more experienced of the two groups, despite both of them being active participants in festivals and concerts here in Central Europe. These guys have matured over the years, taking breaks now and then for personal reasons, sometimes for extremely long lengths of hibernation (like 15 years), including changes to their line-up, but coming back around 2017 and reinstating their position on the death metal scene. Since that time, most of their new material has been compared to their sound from the 1990s, especially with their 1997 release Ideas.
And so, let’s get to the nitty-gritty and talk about this little masterpiece that I’m listening to while typing. The title track of After the Funeral opens with a symphonic moment, or moments I should say, perhaps a bit reminiscent of a Cradle of Filth album, but no matter, the song itself is raw and honest with the same edge as their older songs, yet somehow more tight-sounding. However, it is a bit stretched out with a repetition of chord progressions in the last minute of the song that goes on for way too long. Ending the song around 3.30 minutes would have saved it.
The second track, Conscience of a Serpent is a bit better, but not by much and I still can’t quite get into it. The song has an amazing opening with the higher strings of the guitar, but again, I gotta hit the fast-forward button. Oh my, what are these feelings I’m wrestling with? I take a timeout to reflect on what I’ve just heard. These aren’t band songs at all, and despite coming from a snobbish spa town like Piešťány, whose music scene is more connected with gazebo orchestras or the Pohoda festival and the Slovak rap singer Rytmus, I have to remind myself that this is a group who really does lurk in the underbelly of a town known for its grand hotels and opulence and upper-middle class citizens. I press play again and listen to the opening of Scattering Ashes, which begins with an interview with American serial killer, John Shawcross, aka the Genesee River Killer, who is describing how he strangled June Cicero, one of his 14 victims. Now things are picking up. The riffs are pretty good and less repetitious, including a rock-style guitar solo in the middle. I listen to the whole thing and the next track Retribution has me listening more sharply. I’m starting to like what I hear. This isn’t a bad album at all. Shadows Taint has me googling upcoming concert dates.
There are 8 tracks in total and the album gets progressively better the more you listen to it, finishing with Osteoplastic Sarkom, a sometimes rough and sometimes polished cut full of energy and pain. I finish my coffee and go back to the beginning and listen to the album once more. I find now that I do like the sound of it, even the first two tracks, and realise that the album was meant to be “mid-paced” brutality with serious composition and that 1997 was a long time ago. Perhaps the album’s title is just an allusion to burying the past.
Overall, I give these guys high marks and feel inspired to pick-up my guitar and strum a few power chords, hey, I’m no spring chicken myself. After the Funeral is a great example of old-school experience and exploration and will satisfy both old and new fans.
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