Thursday, January 29, 2015

CD review: DEATHQUINTET Godwork by Dave Wolff

Godwork
Independent
Deathquintet is a melodic death metal band from Sweden, the country that gave us many memorable bands. Their current release Godwork is a decent example of their songwriting and the aesthetics of their genre, Nothing particularly grabs you by the throat on the level of Entombed, Hypocrisy or Marduk, and the production sounds too polished in some places, but Deathquintet are capable musicians and the ten tracks comprising this album are solid enough to be heard all the way through. It feels the band is testing the waters so to speak, to see what approach best fits them, and trying to make their time changes flow together more smoothly. There are several ideas with the potential to make an impact on audiences; don’t get me wrong; only something seems to be holding these back for some reason. The guitar solos and lead harmonies showcase the most inventive ability and there are some piano/keyboard passages that held my attention. Despite its flaws this is a commendable effort that should be expanded on when the band records future albums. There are live videos available for watching on their official site (recorded at various locations) which should give you a greater sense of where they are going. -Dave Wolff