Though they might be a new band, Dead Quiet are no strangers to the vaunted Vancouver heavy rock scene. Featuring former members of Barn Burner and 3 Inches of Blood, these dudes have already toured with Anciients and Black Wizard, before issuing their debut album on… a Toronto EDM label???
However, there ain’t no techno here. The winding, opening riff on “Moon Cruisier” gets yer head nodding right from the get-go, before the keyboards kick in for a gritty, jagged verse. (It’s more of an organ, really.) The soaring chorus kinda reminds me of Blind Guardian, of all things, in its uplifting approach. I guess if you threw Barn Burner, Black Wizard and Anciients in a blender, it might sound something like this.
“Blood Lovers” starts off with a keyboard lick that sounds sorta like a sea shanty, before the barn-burning riffs kick in. This one is a straight-forward chugger in the vein of Scorpions (think “The Zoo”) albeit with a more epic, power-metal chorus. The eight-plus-minute “Corpse Revival” borders on doom with its downtempo, heavy verse riffage, but once again, its power-metal chorus game is on point, complete with soaring keyboard accents. “Disgraced” is also slower, but has more of a power-ballad feel, with a chorus of “I’ll follow you into the pouring rain.” I could totally picture someone playing that guitar solo in the middle of a field with a helicopter camera circling overhead!
“Fucking Oath” opens with a fucking heavy riff, although it mellows out a bit from there with a bass-driven verse beneath an anguished vocal. Fucking heavy chorus though, too. And I’ll be damned if eight-minute power ballad “Dear Demon” doesn’t have a bit of a “Free Bird” feel (especially in the first verse). I’ll be sure to request it at their next gig. ????
Things get a little sparser and a little weirder on the last three tracks. Frankly, I would’ve been fine if this album was 45 minutes instead of 65.
