DEADLOCK's new album is a strange one. It is labeled as "melodic death metal", and I really don't see them as a pure death metal band. There are no blast beats, there is no thrash (well, maybe just a little) and the vocals are both clean and dirty, but too much of them are clean to be classified as true death metal. I guess they are more of a hybrid than anything else. Also, there are NO ballads in death metal, but then there are only partial moments of ballads before going back to dirty vocals and faster drumming. Furthermore, there are NO pianos in death metal! There are also some moments of electronica and dance beats. I almost feel like throwing my hands up in the air, but I have a job to do. Suffice it to say DEADLOCK is definitely a mixed bag. You get many genres wrapped into one. This is certainly not my cup of tea, but I am here to judge the music based on its own merits and not necessarily what I want out of it. What I want and a fan of this hybrid genre might be something completely different.

"Bizarro World" is a term used in comics. The term was created by DC comics. It is exactly what it sounds like, bizarre. "Bizarro world" is a planet where all the characters of the comics were strange versions of their real selves. Bizarro is also a weird version of Superman and many other DC character including wonder Woman and Flash. The code of Bizarro World is as follows, "Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!". I honestly think since this fictional universe was created in the 60's that it was definitely drug induced. Look it up on Wikipedia and I am sure you will agree with me that some heavy duty psychedelics were involved. So I am left with the question, 'Is this album any good?' Since it is a concept album I am willing to give it a pass. Another funny thing about Bizarro World is that it is considered a good thing to lose money! Here is a quote from this unique universe, 'A salesman is doing a brisk trade selling Bizarro bonds: Guaranteed to lose money for you'.

So I guess I get it. This is an attempt to be as weird as possible and still be considered heavy. It certainly is that. There is no question that amongst all the chaos you have a heavy metal album with some growls and a beautiful female voice. I find no fault with the instrumentation at all and the production is great. Perhaps this was meant to be funny, and it most certainly is if you read what it is based on. Without the Wikipedia article explaining the concept to you, you might be utterly confused and get lost in the chaos of this album. By all means, listen to some samples before buying. The release is due out in February, so you might need to wait for the songs to appear on their Myspace page. Bottom line, this is a very weird album. You have been warned.