SilentScream213 Thrash Metal was in a sorry state in the late 90’s. Most prominent Thrash bands got infected by the Groove virus or fizzled out into softer styles, and not many new bands were popping up. More extreme and experimental styles of Metal were running both the underground and the mainstream.

But of course, you still got bands like Deceased, who played unrelenting Deathrash in an undisguised love letter to the 80’s. The album is absolutely ripping, full of fantastic riffs and very well composed, lengthy songs. It’s got a Heavy Metal influence, and integrates slower, more melodic portions between the aggression, making the songs varied and effective at maintaining intrigue despite the lengths.

It’s also a concept album about zombies based on the Night of the Living Dead series. How fun is that? I’m also gonna shout out the vocalist Fowley, who not only has a perfect hybrid Thrash yell/Deathgrowl, but is also the drummer! And the drums kick ass! This was pretty much as good as the genre got at that point in time. Never given enough credit or limelight, Deceased remain an underground treasure, but they deserve much more because this is up there with the best of the Deathrash bands.

UMUR "As the Weird Travel On" is the 6th full-length studio album by US metal act Deceased. The album was released through Thrash Corner Records in May 2005. It´s the successor to the covers album "Rotten To The Core" from 2004. So it´s been quite a few years since the release of the band´s last studio album featuring original material in "Supernatural Addiction (2000)", although Deceased did release the "Behind the Mourner's Veil" EP in 2001, featuring an almost album length playing time of new original material. Since "Rotten To The Core (2004)" lead vocalist King Fowley has now completely abandoned the drumming position (he played on five tracks on "Rotten To The Core (2004)"), and new drummer Dave Castillo therefore plays the drums on all tracks on "As the Weird Travel On".

While it´s been a few years since the release of "Supernatural Addiction (2000)"/"Behind the Mourner's Veil (2001)", Deceased haven´t changed their sound much and "As the Weird Travel On" sounds like the natural successor to the two early millenium releases. This is powerful and very raw heavy metal with speed/thrash metal elements and the occasional nod towards death metal. While the music can be relatively raw at times, this is basically just very hard edged heavy metal and it´s predominantly the raw semi-growling/shouting vocals by Fowley, which provide the music with touches of death metal. As usual the lyrics are horror/gore themed and Fowley again proves that he is a great storyteller. Being told a scary horror story is exactly how it feels listening to the vocal part of the album. The instrumental part of the music features killer heavy metal/speed/thrash metal riffs, harmonies, and very well played leads, powerful organic drumming, and just generally a very high quality level on all positions. Deceased are obviously a confident and very well playing unit.

So upon conclusion "As the Weird Travel On" is yet another high quality release by Deceased. Intriguing and unique songwriting, skilled performances from a distinct sounding band, and a powerful, raw, and detailed sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Rotten To The Core" is the 5th full-length studio album by US metal act Deceased. The album was released through Malt Soda Records in January 2004. It´s the successor to "Supernatural Addiction" from 2000 although the "Behind the Mourner's Veil" EP from 2001 bridges the gap between the two full-length studio albums. On "Rotten To The Core" Deceased have added drummer Dave Castillo to the lineup, and lead vocalist/drummer King Fowley therefore only plays drums on some of the tracks. He would from this point step down from the drummer position for a couple of years (until 2010) and solely concentrate on performing vocals.

"Rotten To The Core" is a covers album, featuring Deceased performing hardcore/punk covers by artists like Ramones, Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, and Sex Pistols. The album features 16 classic hardcore/punk tracks and is obviously a project Deceased have done for their own satisfaction first and secondly for the fans (which is often the case with cover albums). It´s not the most original idea to make a hardcore/punk covers album, and many other metal artists have done it before (and after) Deceased (including Slayer with their "Undisputed Attitude (1996)" covers album).

Deceased deliver some convincing performances and they manage to put a little of their own spin on the source material, while still staying fairly true to the original tracks. "Rotten To The Core" features a decent quality sound production, which is raw and suits the material well. Overall "Rotten To The Core" is not the most interesting release by Deceased though, and considering the high quality of the last couple of Deceased releases before this one, the drop in quality is pretty big. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Behind the Mourner's Veil" is an EP release by US metal act Deceased. The EP was released through Relapse Records in July 2001. It bridges the gap between the band´s 4th and 5th full-length studio albums "Supernatural Addiction (2000)" and "Rotten To The Core (2004)". The EP features 3 new original tracks and 4 covers of D.R.I., Tankard, Anthrax, and Warfare.

Stylistically the 7 tracks on the 28:02 minutes long EP (which in addition to the audio tracks also features a bonus video for "Elly's Dementia") continue the death/thrash/speed/traditional heavy metal style of "Supernatural Addiction (2000)", but the powerful and raw sound production boosts the music and makes it more aggressive and brutal, and "Behind the Mourner's Veil" is the band´s most hard edged death/thrash tinged release since the "The 13 Frightened Souls" EP from 1993. Lead vocalist/drummer King Fowley has a raw voice and an intelligible aggressive delivery. Although the music features death metal traits, he is not really a death metal growler, but just a really raw sounding singer.

Deceased have a great organic way of playing their music and there is a charm to that, which couldn´t have been achieved if the sound production had been of the digital kind. The material on the EP are well written and as the tracks feature elements from both death, thrash, speed, and traditional heavy metal, they are fairly varied too. The short "Reaganomics" cover by D.R.I. is a hardcore punk/crossover type track, so Deceased also shortly venture into that territory. Other standout tracks are the EP opener "It´s Alive!", the speed/traditional heavy metal track "Deathrider" (Anthrax cover), and the closing 10 minutes long "Victims of the Masterplan, Parts I-V". As always the lyrics/image are predominantly horror/gore themed on the original material.

Upon conclusion "Behind the Mourner's Veil" is an EP release you don´t want to miss if you´re a fan of the two preceding album releases. The quality is high throughout both regarding sound production, musicianship, and songwriting (the covers are great too), and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Supernatural Addiction" is the 4th full-length studio album by US metal act Deceased. The album was released through Relapse Records in February 2000. It´s the successor to the zombie themed concept album "Fearless Undead Machines" from 1997 and features the exact same four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor.

Stylistically the material on "Supernatural Addiction" pretty much continue the raw heavy metal style of "Fearless Undead Machines (1997)". Deceased started out as an old school death/thrash metal act, but already on "Fearless Undead Machines (1997)" the most extreme elements of their sound had been shed (except the horror/gore based lyrics), and instead they played a raw type of heavy metal with thrash and speed metal influences. "Supernatural Addiction" is a natural successor to "Fearless Undead Machines (1997)" and further explores the raw heavy metal style of the predecessor. Drummer/lead vocalist King Fowley has a raw voice and a shouting delivery. He is not the most diverse vocalist, but his almost story-telling vocal style suits the music perfectly. It´s like listening to an old and wrinkled (and a little bit scary too) story telling grandpa by the fireplace late at night, telling an Edgar Allan Poe tale.

...and that´s how the songs work too. The instrumental work is organic and there are many strong riffs, great melodic solos, and driving powerful drumming, but it´s the horror/gore themed lyrics and the story telling vocal style which are the focus of the album. The material are generally very well written and structurally fairly intriguing too, as the band make sure to break out of the the vers/chorus formula and add other sections to keep the tracks interesting throughout.

Deceased have managed to release another high quality heavy metal release with "Supernatural Addiction", and while they are often associated with the early US extreme metal scene, this album has more in common with the output of artists like Mercyful Fate/King Diamond and (early) Iron Maiden, than it has with old school US death/thrash metal artists like Autopsy and Death. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.