Strength and finesse can be extremely tricky to combine - and that is why it's pure poetry when they actually do entwine. Yet what do you call something that aspires to aesthetic ideals but is just too heavy to reach those heights? Well, in this business we call it Groove Metal - a genre that is just too ostentatiously dirty and enticingly rough to walk among the white feathered angels of metallic melodicism. Nonetheless, it is the groove that make the life blood boil, and it is the groove that can make or break a given band's appeal, and in the case of newcomers DEDPOOL (no relation to our favorite merc with a mouth) and their debut "Lifecircle", we bear witness as to how that aforementioned groove can also yearn for finer things in life.

When describing DEDPOOL's sound I almost have the urge to encourage potential listeners to disregard their Groove Metal label. Yes, the rolling riffs are there and they swing along with the pendulum of a badass attitude, and yet there is something to "Lifecircle" that doesn't exactly scream PANTERA. What it actually does however, is explore the possibilities. "Lifecircle" combines an OBITUARY-inspired Thrash Metal attitude with Melodic Death Metal sensibilities by creating heavy, chug-driven tracks with big melodic choruses; as is evident in "Lifecircle's" first two compositional offerings "Rebirth" and "Disease" - which echo of influences from the likes of early SEPULTURA and EXHORDER, but without the technical panache.

DEDPOOL tend to truly live up to their Groove Metal categorization through songs like "Testament", "Homecoming" and the title track "Lifecircle", all of which steer the band's Thrashy inclinations into Sludge Metal territory and see the songs leak and drip with some dark, slimy riffs and deep gargling vocals. Yet the stand-out cut from this musical tome has to be the surprisingly bright and healthy "Bacteria", whose chorus even sees the band dip their fingers into some major chords (tuned down nonetheless) and deliver and almost SMASHING PUMPKINS-esque Heavy Metal offering - one that demonstrates that there is surely more to this book than a grim and menacing cover.

Now, whilst the boys in DEDPOOL have plenty of Metal potential, they do, however, fall victim to banality. The songs, although dynamic in their composition, tend to lack that same dynamism in their execution, and at time sound flat in their progressions. There is also the issue of perpetual musical redundancy, as at times it appears as if the songs can only be distinguished from each other through their choruses and scarce melodic elements, for their rhythm structures hang solely on overused and largely repetitive riffs.

On the other hand, the production on the record is solid. The mix is clean cut yet understated, and allows the listener to appreciate the instrumental aspects whilst at the same time retaining the grit of a bonafide underground record. Whilst the musical performances of the band are not overly virtuosic and compelling, the parts are executed with sterling precision, from the vocals to the solos.

Overall - I won't bullshit here, "Lifecircle" will surprise you. It will break your expectations of artistic ignorance with prudent melodies and wipe away the gunk of dubious stereotypes. And whilst this record does not stun, or flabbergast, it works, and DEDPOOL may very well be one of those underdogs that is slowly gnawing at the bars of a rusty cage, ready to break into the underworld of Groove Metal.