29th December 2024

Review: “Death Dealer” by Death of a Deity (Fifth Anniversary)

West Palm Beach Florida born and raised, playing Deathcore is how Death of a Deity spend most of their days. They landed the first punch of their bare knuckle boxing match in June 2018 with stand alone single “Wasted Life” with riff trade offs and orchestration of note. Returning nine months later with debut EP “Death Dealer” the band, who comprise vocalist Steven Divine, drummer Joe Hennessey and guitarist duo Justin Traxinger and Sean Bosco have put their money where their mouths are to give us something polished and professional rather than a demo…

Classic Death Metal chord progressions give “Buybull” that menacing and sinister feel that we all know and love with moments that border on Beatdown Deathcore as the band expose an underbelly of downtempo bloodletting as the “we don’t care about you religious rhetoric” lyrical narrative plays out. Vocally Steven Divine has the power of Randy Blythe at his most ferocious which actually sounds fresh in the absence of anything even vaguely groove laden. Shifting styles dramatically “Feast for Kings” opens up the arteries with Melodic Death Metal riffs before entering the world of staccato breaks to give us a pummelling mid section. Divine then death growls his way out of the chains that bind, his vocal prowess impressing in the process before “Looking Glass” ushers in a wealth of leads and pummelling percussion. A brute of a track it confirms that the musicianship of the earlier cuts wasn’t flash in the pan and the band have serious talent in the riff slinging department, the breakdowns in the final third the coup de grace. The traits of Deathcore are present in the DNA of Death of a Deity but in truth there is a lot more to them than meets the ear with “Hang ’em High” arguably being their most two step inspiring cut. Plays on silence with the staccato riff breaks work incredibly well while the tasteful solo is a nice touch, adding to the fun before the Beatdown Deathcore riffs return in the second half. Exposing a little more brutality “Societal Woes” comes in swinging some Groove Metal riffs and galloping drums as it bounces along with verve and swagger, the confidence of the four piece in their sonic creations a joy to behold. Classically they bring the riffs back slower in the final moments, dragging the lake with their downtempo skills to decimate the weak. Genre is but a tag on the toe of a corpse in a prison mortuary, Death of a Deity are far from the blunt force trauma that put the body in the bag. [8/10]

Track Listing