With an album named Hacked To Death and blood-spattered, head-cleaving cover art, you would expect the music to be… slaughtering. And this debut full-length by the death/thrashing Detherous is indeed packed with full-throttle rampages and fueled by a riotous, take-no-prisoners spirit. But this fearsome foursome from Calgary, Alberta, Canada do a whole lot more with their music than slash and burn. They’re adept at creating sensations of mania and mayhem, but the music is also adventurous, and full of surprising twists and turns.
We’ve got a prime example of these qualities in the song we’re premiering today from Hacked To Death in advance of the album’s release on August 16th by Redefining Darkness Records. The name of the song is “Ridden“, and the band’s rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist Damon MacDonald describes its subject matter in these words:
“‘Ridden‘ is about the crippling affects of disease from unknown origin. The music builds with the lyrics, from very intense frantic verses that deal with the body starting to shut down to the slower choruses that are just realizations that there will not be a cure. The song is blistering yet has a lot of feeling.”
“Ridden” is unquestionably a scorcher, but as forecast above it’s also intricate, and it revels in making sharp, unexpected course changes.
The flamethrowing doesn’t happen immediately. The song’s opening is instead heavy and heaving, though it includes a wailing, flickering, fire-bright solo that will pop your eyes open — and then the song really takes off in a surge of full-throttle, piston-pumping percussive momentum, vicious whirring and darting riffs, and incinerating vocal tirades.
More changes lie ahead, with bursts of even more extravagant acceleration, as well as gear shifts that slow the pace dramatically. Along with the frequent time changes, the fretwork and the vocals also morph repeatedly as the band alter the mood of the music — but without ever lessening its intensity. And you’ll be happy to know that there’s another eye-popping solo before you reach the end.
Detherous is:
Damon MacDonald– rhythm guitar/lead vocals
Dylan Spicer– lead guitar/backing vocals
Dimitri La Rose– drums/backing vocals
Kamen Proudfoot– bass guitar
Redefining Darkness recommends Hacked To Death for fans of early Death, Obituary, Asphyx, Sacrifice, and Demolition Hammer. It was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Devin Schum (Concrete Funeral) at Black Page Studios, and features gruesome album art by Karl Dahmer (Dahmer Art).
You can place your orders for Hacked To Death now, and you can also check out two more tracks from the album at the Redefining Darkness pre-order page for the album.
PRE-ORDER:
https://redefiningdarknessrecords.bandcamp.com/album/detherous-hacked-to-death
DETHEROUS:
https://www.facebook.com/detherous/