Dead Never Sleep :"Origins of Evil"

There is something about this band's sound that hits a nostalgic place for the weird bridge certain bands made during the late 80s as music begin to transition away from where metal was at the time. There was commonly more of a punk influence to these bands like Snake Nation, Angkor Wat and Die Kreuzen .  The second song finds them going in a darker more melodic direction that is set against more dissonant creeping heaviness, at times reminding me of Deftones first album. 'Helpless" finds things thrashing out with a more punk recklessness to them. The fact the vocals deviate from what you expect from thrash or punk bands helps them a great deal. 

 "HDE" finds them playing much closer to the box you expect punk to rebel from. The guitar might have more finesse and the vocals more character , but it's what you expect from late 80s punk, though it was released in the present day. The weird does not stop here. It carries over into the more introspective and melodic "Fillicide" that once again show the singer can sing when he sets his mind to it. He has a pretty decent range. This touch compensates for the more spastic direction things go.  "Pitchfork" blends the aggressive thrash tendencies in a manner that reminds me more of old Voivod. More so as the song progresses towards it's final moments. 

"Shallow Hell" is a more metallic form of punk, where the lower sun vocals have more in common with the Damned. From a songwriting perspective it's more straight forward, though the riffs take enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. They cram it all in at under two minutes. The last starts with more of a Bad Brains feel in terms of the melody blended with the punk speed and ferocity. They veer off into a more melodic slight with a slight jazzy underpinning, which works to switch things up, though with much of the album things could be done in a more fluid manner. Some of the punk moments are not the most original but overall the odd blend of sonic colors they make use of compensates in a way that works for me. I look forward to what the future brings for these guys and hope it finds them moving in this darker direction the songs are pulled toward. I will give this album a 9 as it's lots of fun and takes me back to welcome place.