ALBUM REVIEW: Deadbird – III: The Forest Within The Tree

Yet again (I exclaim joyfully) I am reviewing an upcoming 20 Buck Spin release, after so many phenomenal releases already this year, I now bring the upcoming 3rd album of DEADBIRD, US Doom Metallers with an album release date set for the 12th October.

1. The Singularity begins with pristine acoustic guitars and serene sampling, I feel really at easy listening to this while sombre the clean vocals add a nice tranquility to the gorgeous backing. I can already tell this is probably going to be very epic in sound with a vocalist who sounds somewhat like the style Candlemass and Khemmis use (or at least meet in the middle). Stunning.
2. Luciferous Heart fires in with beautifully melodic riffing and a huge, epic vibe from the pretty leads, massive riffs and bass sections and pounding drums. There is certainly a vibe of Pallbearer to this music and I am already certain I will love this album, it is full of gorgeous tones and a really warm yet bleak vibe. While there is a certain sense of melancholia to the piece, it is also joyful and welcoming. The sludgy riffs are extremely well written and catchy, with tight production, the vocals soar beautifully and the drums really punctuate everything perfectly. The cleaner sections break the track up nicely with so much powerful emotion to everything (especially the vocals), taking a bit of influence from Bell Witch I believe. There are even some unexpected heavier sections with a really crushing vibe, so much diversity and unique style in this music, I am very impressed. The screamed sections are really powerful too, full of raw emotion. This is a wonderful track with tons of variation and a very approachable sound to it.
3. Heyday brings us back to melodic and epic Doom Metal full of untamed power and just such huge soundscapes, really flourishing lead sections that bring everything together beautifully and a clearly very talented band both as songwriters and performers. This is an absolutely pleasure to listen to already, really taking me out of reality just to be immersed in this gloriously magical music. The dragging rhythms and grooves perfectly timed with some darker sections really packing a punch yet retaining its purely gorgeous sound. This track is an absolutely headbang worthy piece with another lovely acoustic mid section that really elevates the song wonderfully. God damn this is sombre yet stunning. The bluesy guitar solo adds some flourish while not being overbearing or obnoxious, a great balance. Excellent work!
4. Alexandria crawls into groovy, dismal riffing and killer drums beautifully. The song really quickly builds into something spectacular and has a unique vibe to it, something aggressive yet really progressive in sound but also equally as laid back musically as the others. Huge catchy chorus’ really hit hard and are full of so much glorious vocals and the guitar leads that follow are stunning. This song is a really groovy and hard hitting piece of music that stands out quite far from the others. Still very nice though and a really heartwarming track!
5. 11:34 comes into fruition with some awesome bass lines and atmospheric sampling, there is something haunting about that combination that really sets a dark mood and an uncertainty of what will follow. This is a really cool little interval that certainly sensitises your brain to the album even further and breaks the hugely complex tracks up nicely, a well placed piece that certainly adds to the excitement of the release. The melodic guitars do join towards the end for some very Pallbearer like riffs, absolutely hypnotising and so clear and pristine, lovely stuff.
6. Brought Low follows beautifully from the short interval in the album with some sombre riffs and cymbal use, really setting an emotionally overbearing heaviness to the song. The sampled vocals are hard to make out but sound really cool. Some of the most depressing stuff here, but the vocals while strange really take the foreground of the piece and sound stunning. There is a sense of the track building to something, which turns out to be a slow burn melodic piece of just stunning music, the way the song grows and is nurtured slowly into existence feels like a classic Horror movie. The screamed vocals are incredibly powerful and tormenting, I am sure they were very cathartic to perform. The intense riffing and drums provide a perfect foundation for the singer to really let loose all of his vocal anguish upon a beautiful song. The production is perfectly tailored to the track, not missing a beat or note anywhere. Once more the song fades into more slow and dismal melancholy, I am loving this track. It is incredibly unique and I genuinely cannot really compare it to anything off the top of my head, which I am glad for, it is very refreshing to listen to and completely unpredictable. So far I think this song is by far the strongest, but do not misconstrue that as me saying the others are weak, the whole album up until now has been incredibly powerful and stunning to listen to. The track is both emotionally and musically complex taking us into sonic self realisation while being a perfect track to contemplate the parameters of existence to.
7. Bone & Ash out of nowhere just plunges us into sludgy brutality, it’s strangely really fitting to the album while being nothing like the last track, it flows really well. The purely stampeding feel of the song is like deadweight on you, crushingly heavy and amazingly written. The guitar and bass sections almost seem to be chasing you while the drums add so much flustering confusion and the vocals just finish things off with howled mayhem. Beautifully put together and a pretty shocking song among this release, wonderfully played with some absolutely insane riffing with a more stoner vibe to them in parts and even some more Hardcore Punk elements too. The ending of the song draws out nicely and I am left somewhat speechless.
8. Ending gives away its role in the title, sadly the ending of the album is in sight. The eerie reversed guitars are haunting and they have a real ghostly vibe to them while the sampling seems more spacecraft like. A strange but great ending to a strange but fantasic album!

This release is packed with epic Doom Metal, full of melody and powerful emotion, a real journey into the music occurs and I cannot recommend this enough to fans of Pallbearer, Khemmis, Bell Witch and those types of bands. ANOTHER absolutely fantastic release from 20 Buck Spin, not that I am surprised. Beautifully put together album, really entertaining and pleasant with thoroughly enticing riffs, throughly gripping release from start to finish! -9/10