After a single (that very same song also appeared on a split with Repellers) and a two-track EP, Georgia-based band Dead Hand recorded its debut album Storm Of The Demiurge, which includes both tracks from their untitled 2014-MCD. It got released the digital way in May 2015, and shortly after on CD by the very young English label Third I Rex and US-based Divine Mother Recordings. The latter took care of that split-7”EP of Dead Hand and Repellers, by the way.
The band, being Matt Mills (guitars and vocals, as well as artwork for this album), J.R. Morrison (drums), Stephen Williams (bass), Shannon Harris (keyboards and vocals) and Clifton Carr (guitars, vocals, layout), created this six-tracker (with rather lengthy pieces; two are much shorter, and one clocks nearly a quarter of an hour), having a total running time of forty seven minutes. The album brings something that we hear quite often lately, being an obscure mixture of Sludge, Doom, Black Metal and Post-Hardcore. Quite often the result turns out to be acceptable, sometimes it does bore the sh*t out of me, and many times it’s somewhere in between: acceptable and convincing, yet lacking of any additional thing that might tell the band apart. So, what about this band?
Well, I did listen to this release a couple of times, and believe me if I say that Dead Hand do belong to the better side of the genre (once again: this is a personal opinion; reviewers need to be objective, but being humans we cannot deny our subjective preferences either – but please continue to notice some objective reasons too).
The sound, to start with, is quite cool, for being enormously rough and unpolished, yet oh so firm. Especially within the variation it comes to its peak. The (semi-acoustic) intermezzos, for example, sound so naturally evident within the whole process, but the equilibrium of the different instruments too is an expression of this great quality.
But seen the quality of song writing at the one hand, and performance at the other, even the most critic reviewer must admit that Dead Hand exceed the average level. There is so much going on, with inclusion of many dimensions of atmosphere and melody. For instance the tempo is something that does not really show originality, but which gets performed with so much persuasion and honesty. I know that the Doom-laden trend isn’t a stranger to Sludge / Post-Metal trends, but in this band’s case there is no other possible tempo that might occur, except for this slow-paced one. It dooms, and therefor undersigned is aroused…
But throughout the whole journey this album shows a fierceness, a pride, a conviction that makes the listener bang his (or hers) head, while looking grim, angry, vicious… And besides, I do not dislike repetition, but Dead Hand avoid to focus on brainless repetitive melodies and structures, and within this specific case it isn’t but a blessing! Damn yeah, there is enough diversification to withhold one’s attention… Besides, the band has a certain Post-approach, yet at the same time an undeniable old schooled identity as well. And then I am referring to a certain, yet pretty clear, injecting of riff-wise elements from the Seventies school (one example: the whole riffing structure at the end of Trailed By Wolves; listen and follow my thoughts…).
Quite important too is to admit that Dead Hand also implement elements from scenes like Sixties Psychedelica, Post-Rock, Shoegaze, Alternative, Morbid Doom-Death and Black Metal, though these elements aren’t but additional yet creative elements that characterise this band’s sublime play.
So, in conclusion: with Storm Of Demiurge, Dead Hand do not necessarily bring the newest sensation within the Doom / Sludge / Metal scene. Yet this band is way beyond average, going for many aspects: sound, song writing, performance, atmosphere and attitude. That’s why my (totally subjective) score is so high (for this specific trend), and that’s why I recommend the ‘fans’ of the Sludge-scene to accept my advice!