NOTHING DIVINE — Dead Man's Hand (review)

NOTHING DIVINE — Dead Man's Hand album cover

EP · 2009 · Metalcore

3/5 · 2010-08-29
Time Signature

The metal begins...

Genre: modern Swedish metal

I feel like I am witnessing the mighty Swdish/Gothenburg melodic metal sound being raped to death by newer Swedish so-called metal bands. Dead By April have sucked any metal energy out of the Swedish metal sound, having stuffed its hollowed out carcass with boyband and pop music maggots, while Sonic Syndicate, dressed like Lady Gaga, violate its remains in plain sight.

Having witnessed such atrocious poppification of the once mighty Swedish melodic metal sound - established by the likes of At The Gates, Arch Enemy, In Flames and Dark Tranquility, one might think that Nothing Divine is just another boyband in metal disguise. Fortunately, such an assumption would be wrong. This Stockholm-based sixtet seem to focus on retaining the balance between metal energy and melody that characterizes the above-mentioned acts, having much more in common with older melodic death metal and more hardhitting American melodic metalcore acts like Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall and God Forbid.

This EP opens with "I Of The World" which explodes into a death metal growled scream before quickly changing into melodic but energetic guitar riffs which are obviously inspired by more traditional metal (I guess Kerry King's description of Killswitch Engage as "souped up Iron Maiden" applies to this track, too). As seem mandatory in modern metal, the vocalist interchanges between screamed vocals and clear vocals, but he does not to to the same schizophrenic extent as in other metalcore bands. Actually "I Of The World" is a very good and varied track I think, which even contains classic trash metal style riot vocals, and it is perfectly balanced in terms of melody and metallic energy, weaving seemlessly between riffs derived from various types of metal.

"The Sinner's Fall" is very much in the same vein, albeit with more focus on traditional metal and guitar harmonies. While a fine track, I don't think the yelled vocals in the prechorus work that well. The chorus itself is a very melodic Killswitch-inspired affair, and the bridge also seems to be inspired by the same artist.

"I The Sacrifice" starts out with a groovy guitar riff and is more of a rock inspired track than a melodeath/melodycore track, and with its many "soft" parts it is probably the most accessible track to people who are more mainstream oriented. This does not mean that it sucks or anything - it's way better than any track I've ever heard from Dead By April or Sonic Syndicate.

"Dead Man's Hand" is built around a melodic guitar riff that reminds me a bit of one of some of the riffage on Carcass' "Swansong" without being a ripoff. The chorus is catchy and has a certain 90s rock quality to its vocal melody. The bridge is an athmospheric breakdown of sorts accompanied by spoken words (I think it would have worked better without the spoken vocals, to be honest).

"The Nightmare Begins" is another rock oriented track which is built around a motorcycle friendly metal riff (which really clicks with me... even though I hate motorcycles) and contains a catchy chorus. There are also some sections and riffs that remind me of 90s rap metal legends Clawfinger.

"Dead Man's Hand" is a quite good EP, I think, and, unlike the cacky popmetal of Dead By April and Sonic Syndicate, Nothing Divine manage to maintain the equilibrium between metal energy and melody without descending into pure teen pop metal; there is plenty of metal here and plenty of reference to various classic genres of metal, which I really appreciate. While Nothing Divine do make use of keyboards and sound effect, they do not overdo it, and the dosis of keyboards and electronic effect is just the way it should be: it contributed, but does not take over. Also, the guitarists of this band are very skilled and most of the solos on this album are very good, making use of elements and techniques that you'd find in a lot of hard rock and traditional metal - without ever being too shreddy.

I think that this EP will appeal to fans of melodic metalcore along the lines of Killswitch Engage and fans of Swedish melodic death metal. Also, if you are looking for more accessible and melodic metal music from a band who are not just a boyband in disguise, then "Dead Man's Hand" by Nothing Divine should be right up your alley - fans of traditional metal might also like it.