Serum
Dead Alone
•
April 5, 2018
DEAD ALONE was formed in 2004 in Miesbach (near Munich) by Florian Hefft and Martin Hofbauer. Since the beginning, a symbiosis of brutal-forced aggression, sinister atmosphere, thrilling melodies and deep lyrics marked the style of the quartet. With this unique combination, the band tantalizes their audience. After the debut album "Slivering Marrow" (2006), the E.P. "Phobia" was released in 2008. In 2010, the second full-length album "Vitium" set the direction for an even rougher yet melodic style. With this record, the musicians earned loads of positive reviews. The webzine Metalunderground.at even appointed the guys as "Band of the Month April 2010".
For the third album "Ad Infinitium," DEAD ALONE joined forces with Supreme Chaos Records. So the band was established more widely in the underground scene. At the end of 2014, "NEMESIS" was released. For this album, the drums were recorded in Athens under the direction of Fotis Benardo (Ex-SEPTICFLESH, Ex-CHAOSTAR). Also, Christos Antoniou (SEPCTICFLESH) composed some orchestrations for the song "The Awakening". In 2015 and 2016 several line-up changes paved the way for a new direction and DEAD ALONE started working on their new album "Serum." The band devoted a whole year creating their most mature album yet. With Alexander Ecker (Pearlsound Studio), a long-planned concept by singer, Florian Hefft was realized. The band focused on the perfect combination of music, lyrics and illustrations. For "Serum," DEAD ALONE also collaborated with Frieder Loch (Ex-TODTGELICHER) for orchestrations and electronic sounds. Dinos "Psychon" Parras (Sound Abuse Studios, Live guitar for SEPTICFLESH) did the Mix and Mastering with "Serum" a unique piece of art about faith, hope and the abyss of humanity is coming to life.
DEAD ALONE are also passionate about performing live. With all their powerful performances, they proved to be a kick-ass live act! On 7th March 2018 DEAD ALONE and Michael Grabow part ways, with the message on their webpage "Sad news today, friends. Our guitarist Michi and DEAD ALONE decided to part ways. We are very grateful for the past two years. We wish him only the best for his musical and personal future"."Delusion" has as soft intro to start off the album, until Beni introduces himself, breaking the gentle melody, with a hard hitting drum beat. The guitarists flirt their own melody around, very much a Melodic Death feel to it. Building up in short outbursts around Florian. The song does not last long, but is a good start
"Swarm" does not hold back to start, just a mad frenzy like a storm. The rain hits hard like the melody. It slows down a bit to bring more of a melodic feel to the song, but just as you think that's the style chosen, a new, more crazed pace kicks in and takes the song into a new direction once more. It is a great feature to the album, allowing expression and creativity to flow. No part of the change in style in not enjoyed. The tempo will range from a relaxing bobbing of the head to a full head bang and foot tapping like a drummer. Swarm is the best song of a fantastic album for my money. The slow keyboard is a nice way to finish
"Black Swans" has a distorted beginning, with an odd keyboard intro, it does not last long in anticipation of the outburst of dark vocals and heavyset instruments kick in. The progression builds up nicely to create a simple but beautifully effective melody. The instrumentals are effective around the vocals, the two sets play well together with Florian's raw energy streaming out into his vocals as well as the entire band's chemistry imploding together. Every band has its own strengths, the mix of atmospheric keyboard breaking down the heavy darkness of the melody shows that the band know how to enhance each other's sound as well as their own
"A World of Lies" starts with a short acoustic flickering; it doesn't last long until Florian hits out the vocals. The beat through guitar picks up with a few deep chords strummed. Credit to Beni on the drums, as through the entire album his drum skills are top level, he helps to build up the tempo, unlike some drummers who are faded into the back. Beni is clear and effective throughout. Fred and Michi strum along together to create a beautiful melody throughout. There is no downside to this song, except it ends.
For Fans of: HEAVEN SHALL BURN
9 / 10
Almost Perfect
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Serum" Track-listing:
1. Delusion
2. The Fall
3. Indoctrination
4. Faith...
5. Four Prophets
6. Swarm
7. Fear
8. Praise the End
9. Black Swans
10. A World of Lies
11. Born to Decay
Dead Alone Lineup:
Florian Hefft - Vocals / Bass
Fred Freundorder - Guitars
Beni Merl - Drums
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