UMUR
"Gomorrh." is the fourth full-length studio album by German death metal act Dead Eyed Sleeper. The album was independently released in March 2016. It´s been five years since the release of "Observing Oblivion", and quantity wise Dead Eyed Sleeper don´t have much to show for it as "Gomorrh." only features 5 tracks and a total playing time of 28:34 minutes. But as always it´s the quality of the material which matters the most...
...and there´s plenty of quality to be found on "Gomorrh.". Stylistically Dead Eyed Sleeper have changed their music style again, and this time they sing (read growl) in their native language instead of in English. The German language lyrics are poetry written by late 1800/early 1900 German expressionist poets Georg Trakl, Georg Heym, and August Stramm. I´ll adress this change first, because it´s an absolutely fabulous idea, which works so well for them and completely eclipses what they´ve done before in regards to vocals and lyrics. The instrumental part of the music is predominantly a mid-paced heavy and occasionally doomy death metal style (with occasionally faster paced sections), featuring grinding brutal riffs, a thick dark atmosphere of despair, and some nice technical drumming. They are very successful in creating an almost desperate apocalyptic atmosphere. Not completely unlike the atmosphere found on some of Ulcerate´s releases, although Dead Eyed Sleeper are generally a much more accessible act.
"Gomorrh." features a dark, massive, and brutal sounding production, which suits the rawness and intensity of the material well. Upon conclusion "Gomorrh." is an album which makes my jaw drop. I did not expect this from Dead Eyed Sleeper...I´ve followed them since the days when they worked under the Legacy monicker and followed their development on the three preceding Dead Eyed Sleeper releases, and I honestly did not see this coming. "Gomorrh." is an absolutely brilliant death metal release. It treads the fine line between being accessible and catchy, but at the same time adventurous, brutal and challenging. Add to that the dark despairing atmosphere and you have a winner. This one is a hidden gem just waiting to be discovered by others than me. I can highly recommend seeking it out. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.
