Dead Earth Politics - The Weight Of Poseidon
Genuine Records
Thrash/Groove Metal
8 songs (44:55)
Release year: 2010
Reviewed by Goat

Hailing from Austin, Texas and playing a form of grumpy Thrash Metal, Dead Earth Politics are hard to pigeonhole. They avoid any Metalcore-comparisons by being too out-there and off-kilter, riffs twisting and turning intelligently as songs make you work to understand them. Vocalist Ven Scott has the sort of throaty grunting bellow which would normally put traditional thrashers off were it not for the guitar heroics of the likes of Once Was Glass, as melodic as it is groovy. It feels wrong to give them a ‘progressive’ tag however, since the music never seems to do as much as is promised, as much noise as it makes – the most experimental elements on show for much of the album are mock tv-news announcements.

However, what the band do, they do well, and later moments such as the dip into Jazz on Traitor Is A Name and the Arabic chanting and acoustic opening to nine-minute finale 10.13 are welcome proof of the band’s further talents. The twisty riffing and melodic meanderings of the latter track especially are a great showcase for the band, and cast a shadow on the rest of the album for not being as good. Still, once you’re used to the Dead Earth Politics style, it’s hard not to enjoy the likes of Artistic Licence – opening with the words ‘I’ll pepper you with a barrage of wordfire!’ and coming on like Iron Maiden crossed with Entombed – or Dos Cuerpos, making even better usage of that clearly audible bass and crashing around like recent Exodus at their angriest.

It’s not hard to enjoy The Weight Of Poseidon once you get into it, the intense rip-roaring of the likes of Hooked providing a better listen than you’d expect. Given lighter vocals, the traditional Heavy Metal influences would come through clearer and Dead Earth Politics would broaden their appeal, but I sense that they enjoy the gnarliness which Ven’s harsh vocals provide – really, the only improvements to be made will probably occur naturally, especially considering that this is the band’s debut full-length. Dead Earth Politics is a name to remember.

MySpace
Killing Songs :
Artistic Licence, Once Was Glass, Hooked, Traitor Is A Name, 10.13
Goat quoted 72 / 100
Other albums by Dead Earth Politics that we have reviewed:
Dead Earth Politics - Men Become Gods reviewed by Alex and quoted 83 / 100
Dead Earth Politics - The Queen of Steel reviewed by Alex and quoted no quote
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