More crazy Canadian metal! DERELICT for the kill!

DERELICT - Unspoken Words (2010)
Year Of The Sun
Written by: Matt Haines (c) 

I had no knowledge of DERELICT beforehand. After looking through I found what metal was really about, moderate breakdowns, guitar onslaught, and medieval vocals to match. Not saying that DERELICT stands out above every other metal band, but it’s nice to hear a band going straight to the roots of where metal started out. Granted Unspoken Words has good aspects but it also has some negative ones. Now no album can be absolutely perfect down to the last detail but that is easily over-looked. This four-piece entourage hails from Canada and brings a viscous force along with them. The Canadian invasion has begun and hopefully with a bit of luck, DERELICT can come out and surprise many with Unspoken Words.


First off, not knowing what DERELICT sounds like I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when the first track played. It was something that hasn’t been heard from a modern metal band in some time. A metal band playing actual metal, it felt like something new to me. Hearing all of these bands now a day playing nothing but breakdown, chug, gang vocals, it was a refreshing change. So the first track "Machete" really helped set the tone for the rest of the album. While listening to this I kept my attention on the vocalist, Eric Burnet. His vocals reminded me of a young Trevor from Black Dahlia Murder back in the days of Unhallowed. Me being an advent BDM fan, found this strangely appealing.

As Unspoken Words progresses it keeps up with the same tempo and unrelentless progressiveness. I’m listening to the album thinking, “Dang these guys are actually keeping my attention, and I have to listen to more.” This album is good; I mean really good, its very diverse and helps spread out the attention across the spectrum. For example in the song "Unspoken Words Part 1: Demonized", everything is defined and clear to understand, none of that slushy, crunched together sound that most bands have because they want to speed through a song to play as fast as possible. All the transitions are smooth, unique, and clear to understand. They even use old tricks that bands never use anymore, like; cymbal holds, counteracting melodies, and a bass guitar you can actually hear! Crazy I know.

But with every good album there are little nit-picky aspects that I noticed. In some songs there is a bit repetitive guitar work that gets old after hearing it for the third time in a minute. In the 42 second song; "Unspoken Words Part 0: Ripe With Martyrs", it’s nothing but static which really offset the mood for me. I mean here is this album that is great and consistent, but this song just totally stole away from the mood. The vocalist has little range to help expand the album to the fullest limits and capabilities that he can use. So with that said the negative aspects of this album are nowhere near close to outweighing the positives of Unspoken Words. It’s a great album that everyone needs to own, so go out and buy it and check them out on tour currently.

Check out DERELICT’s music video for “Machette” and check out their crazy intensity!


((( Headbang here: http://www.myspace.com/derelictmetal )))