DEAD NOW is a stoner rock band based out of Atlanta, Georgia. It consists of former members of bands such as TORCHE, RIDDLE OF STEEL, TILTS and DAY OLD MAN. This release, which happens to be self-titled, was released through Brutal Panda Records back on September 7^th, 2018. The album contains 5 tracks and a total of 22 minutes of music.

The album begins with the song "Brunette", with a nice of distortion that slowly gets louder and louder as the intro progresses, matched with some muffled drums and an extremely low tone guitar riff. The vocals are actually very clean and pristine, which comes a bit as a shock considering the heaviness of the music in the background. There is a side to the vocals that reminds me a bit of CORROSION of CONFORMITY. Musically though it would certainly appeal to fans of SLEEP. The sound is as dirty as it gets but its gets its point across perfectly. This will entice your ears for quite some time I promise you.

"Ritchie Blackmourning" despite its very interesting play on words regarding the master of hard rock, does actually take some influence from RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE in the very accessible chorus and the delivery of the vocals. The music obviously takes root in the almighty BLACK SABBATH and you could make the case that the way it is expressed vocally, it has an OZZY touch to it. Only 2 songs in I can say I absolutely love the way the vocals sound here, it's a great contrast to power and loudness of the guitars and bass.

"Bird Leaf" uses the same intro-type distortion figures with an absolutely crunching main riff that I would associate to the likes of NEUROSIS and the song just magically shifts into this QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE / KYUSS tempo and musical structure. One word that will always come to mind here is that this as loud as it gets, it is made to be played at a high volume because of its very pronounced textures and bass-oriented melodies. If you ever wanted to listen to a song in the middle of the desert, this is the one you want.

"Powershapes" is an absolute flesh-pounder if there was ever one. This is the stoner equivalent of MESHUGGAH, the guitar sound will pierce right through your eardrum, and leave you wanting for more. I can only imagine what this song would be in a live "environment", surely it would rip the paint off of every single wall and crack its foundation. This is by far my favorite track of the album, it just delivers on every level.

"Motorekt" which is the final track on this EP, has a completely different structure than the previous songs, for one, it is much faster than anything else we have heard so far. I guess the best way to compare this is a cross between VOIVOD and THE FOO FIGHTERS (yes you read that right. I am in no way comparing the band to the alternative rock band, but more so in the delivery of the rhythm guitars. The rest of the song does not follow the same format as it has the heavier and slower aggressive tone. A great way to finish off the album!<