Some bands still astonish me after all these years. It's due to some features in their musical style that really attracts us, creating a bound between music and fans. And this is a feature that makes many bands grow a lot. This is what made IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA so great in the past and in the present. And even being sometimes violent and nasty, this is a feature presented on the work of the English team called THE DEAD XIII. Yes, these madmen that comes from Manchester are doing a very fine work on "Catacombs".

I would not label their work. No, I refuse to do it, so you must understand that their music is chaotic, intense and heavy, done with aggressive vocals with harsh tunes, but it uses as well a melodic embodiment along with some climatic feeling created by the synthesizers' use and abuse. Of course someone will label them as "post-something", but I really don't care about labels. Just hear it and you'll understand what these nasty melodies, along with heavy and thunderous guitar riffs, can do. And by the way, the result is an excellent and personalized musical work.

To produce such album was not an easy task for the one who took this responsibility in hands. Yes, because to make a perfect balance of a clean and understandable sound, with the weight and amount of aggressiveness they need, was not so simple as it seems. But let's say that the producer really did a fine job. Not perfect (due some tunes on guitars could be a bit better), but almost.

Hooking and abrasive, "Catacombs" may find a way into the heart of many listeners, and songs as "Frostbite" (a nasty and energetic song, using very good tempos and a touch of musical accessibility, wise use of synths, and it can become a hymn in their shows. And what a good and charming refrain), the powerful "Catacombs" (very good guitar work, indeed, and fine aggressive vocals), and the savage "Haunter" will conquer many.

They call themselves as "Horror Metal", but I prefer to call their work "A fine and good revelation in form of music". Just that.<