| CD REVIEW The Deep Eynde |
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Band : The Deep Eynde Based in Los Angeles, The Deep Eynde is a DeathRock/ Metal act originally formed in 1992 with singer Fate Fatal and a bunch of others. The band would become known for their theatrical shows, using colored plastic wrap outfits, real blood, fake abortions, live insects, worms, and an octopus suit…also extending their musical soundscape to encompass Punk, Gothic, DeathRock, Psychobilly, and Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 1992 Fate Fatal was asked to front Kittens For Christian, with whom he recorded a couple of singles. Meanwhile TDE was kept alive in the studio making demos! When he left KFC in 1995, Fate restarted TDE with new members, recording debut album City Lights (a dark mix reflecting influences of Bauhaus and Siouxie And The Banshees), released by German label Apollyon Records that same year. One year later the line-up would be shuffled about once more, to include guitarist Daniel deLeon (of The Insaints and Rezurex; he would stay on ‘til 2004). Under the influence of living with Anarcho-Punk band Naked Aggression, the band’s music took a more aggressive turn, and in 2001 both the Suicide Drive EP and sophomore full-length were recorded, issued the year after under Apollyon. 2001 again saw a line-up change to include drummer Hal Satan (of Penis Flytrap and 45 Grave; he’s stay on ‘til mid 2007). With Sean Vomit as bassist, the band released their 3rd album Shadowland in late 2004 on the Disaster (ran by skateboard legend and UK Bombs frontman Duane Peters)imprint (a subsidiary of Bomp! Records), and the higher profile resulted in the album hitting record store shelves throughout the US. The album got picked up by German label People Like You in 2005, immediately hitting the charts thanks to previous promotion in Europe. TDE now began to concentrate on playing shows outside the US, with a focus on European festivals. In 2007 the band released Bad Blood, but by then the line-up had again changed a couple of times: in late 2004 deLeon had been exchanged for Eric Lau and Justino Franco (the latter absent during 2006, would return, at which time Lau was replaced by Stress). Vomit had been replaced by Paul Reyes in 2005, then by Rob Graver in 2006. On the album, you can find guitarists Stress (real name Daniel Overberger) and Franco, plus deLeon in a guesting capacity…and the bass was recorded by John MacCoy. Hum…by the way, in mid 2007 another change saw Fatal, Stress, and Graver joined by new drummer dAr Larizadeh. This album, as the title implies, concerns material written (and recorded, no doubt) in what the band considers their “Dark Years”, namely the period from the beginning days to the turn of the century Songs like “Voodoo Baby”, “444”, and “Sandman”, for instance, were among the first to deserve the “DeathRock” classification…older stuff rather getting a “Batcave” and “Dance” labeling. On the other hand a track like “13th Floor” and “Swingtime” definitely showed influences from ‘90s lounge and big bands (the first based on a Psychobilly basis, the second through the addition of a horn section), while “Road Flash” shows a sense of weird experimentation both in the guitar sound, the wacky percussion, and parts of the vocals. Since those early days, the band have gone through a couple of changes musically (as well as in the line-up), first fusing the band’s original sound to their Post Punk sound with sharper guitars which would attract Peters, and Bad Blood is said to be yet another evolution, to an even heavier level (things which I’m giving you as info I read myself, not from first-hand experience). But in the beginning days the band took things a little calmer overall, as proven by the material on this compilation (8 of the 18 songs – namely “Parfumery”, “The Feast”, “Animal Garden”, “Magic Man”, “Tongues”, “Strangewalk” and “Voodoo Baby” hail from the 1995 debut – I’ve not been able to determine whence the other stuff came). To make things a little more appealing, the guys also recently recorded two new songs with album openers “My Darkest Hour” (which has somewhat of a The Cult remeniscence musically) and “Scream” (which have been described as “classic Deep Eynde, and indeed suit just perfectly in the overall picture of this album). By the way, originally this album was announced as an anthology…which is definitely isn’t, as it concentrates on the early years, right? Also, it was “supposed” to be released in Spring, allowing for the release of a new TDE studio album in late 2008, early 2009. What with things postponed on the compilation, I thínk we’ll have to wait a little longer for the band’s 5th album! To get an idea what the band sounds like, surf to myspace.com/thedeepeynde (no stuff off this compilation, but plenty of more recent material, plus a bùnch of videos) or last.fm/music/Deep+Eynde (samples of each song on Shadowland plus a host of videos). Seen the fact that the album was already released halfway November (and we’re very sorry for bringing you the review this late, but can we really help it when w’re being sent the stuff so late?) TDE is finishing up a European tour on December 7 (Holland, at Rotterdam’s Baroeg – for dates sttill to go leading up to the end of the week, check the band’s MySpace page as soon as possible). This compilation…”anthology” if you will, comes with a bonus DVD (which we didn’t get) on the finished product, including “all videoclips of the band, interviews, live footage, and more” for a total of ober 2 hours (sorry I can’t/ won’t elaborate!). Yo…compilation, so no rating! Tony. |