DETHKLOK — Dethalbum II (review)

DETHKLOK — Dethalbum II album cover Album · 2009 · Melodic Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Dethalbum II" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US metal act Dethklok. The album was released through Williams Street Records in September 2009. It´s the successor to "The Dethalbum" from 2007 and continues the virtual band concept of the debut album (Dethklok is a band in the animated tv-series "Metalocalypse"). As the case was on the debut album Brendon Small performs all vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, voice-overs, and handles production. The drums on the album are played by prolific drummer Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory...etc.).

The debut album featured a melodic death metal style with strong traditional heavy metal ties, and that style is more or less continued on "Dethalbum II". The concept has been developed even further though, and occasional symphonic elements have been added to make "Dethalbum II" an even more intriguing and varied album than the debut. The material is catchy, powerful, and very well composed and arranged. There are some really impressive harmony work on display here, and the album is generally nicely melodic and occasionally symphonic. Power is not lost on the account of the material being melodic oriented, so it´s polished but not too polished. The same can be said about the sound production which is clear and detailed, but still powerful.

Everything is played with great skill and conviction and the effect laden growling vocals also work well within this context. I´m usually not a fan of growling vocals which are this obviously run through effects, but Dethklok manage to make it work because they are able to make the vocals an extra instrument by using highly rhythmic phrasing. So Small should definitely be mentioned as a brilliant musician and composer, but Hoglan of course as always also needs a special mention, because he is a drummer extraordinaire. His playing here is on a high technical level and while the drum sound is not exactly organic, he is able to put a human touch on something which could otherwise have had the potential to sound like programmed drums.

So upon conclusion "Dethalbum II" is a strong sophomore album by Dethklok and maybe even a little stronger than the high quality debut album. The songwriting is intriguing and Dethklok have a distinct sound, the performances are strong, and the sound production is professional and well sounding. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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