UMUR
"Narcotic Wasteland" is the self-titled debut full-length studio album by US death metal act Narcotic Wasteland. The album was self-released in January 2014. Narcotic Wasteland was formed by Nile guitarist/vocalist Dallas Toler-Wade. He teamed up with lead guitarist Ed Rhone who was his former bandmate in Teratosis and their later added bassist/vocalist Chris "Lutachrist" Dupre and drummer Erik Schultek (who was recommended to Dallas Toler-Wade by Nile drummer George Kollias).
Stylistically the music on the album is technically well played and powerful sounding death metal. It´s pretty brutal and raw, but produced with an attention to detail, that makes it a more easily accessible death metal release than most. The fact that the growling vocals by Dallas Toler-Wade are fully intelligible and delivered in his distinct aggressive and commanding style also contribute greatly to the listening experience. The tracks themselves are also relatively accessible, with clear vers/chorus structures. While there are several riffs that remind me of Nile, and of course Dallas vocals are bound to lead the listener´s attention that way too, the music on "Narcotic Wasteland" is much more direct and less structually challenging than most of Nile´s material.
Thankfully that doesn´t mean it´s less interesting and while I was tempted to use the word simple above when making a comparison to Nile´s generally complex output, that is not a fair description of the music on "Narcotic Wasteland". The structures might be more simple in nature than your usual Nile track, but we´re still treated to technically challenging playing delivered with great conviction and variation (even some melodic sections here and there). All 9 tracks on the 38:01 minutes long album feature drug/alcohol related lyrical themes, which songtitles like "Alcoholic Religious Fanatics", "The Shackles of Sobriety" and "Addicted to Junk" should make clear (if you hadn´t figured it out be looking at the front cover artwork). From the interviews I´ve read with Dallas Toler-Wade regarding this project, he says that the inspiration for the lyrics have come from looking out his window, seeing his neighbourhood slowly crumble around him and according to him a lot of the evils come from alcohol and drug abuse, which subsequently lead to more crime and fear among common people. The lyrics could in some cases have been written in a more subtle and less direct way, but overall I think they work well within the context of the music.
"Narcotic Wasteland" is a good example that not all death metal releases are derivative or retrospective in nature. There are actually death metal artists out there who understand how to compose fresh sounding music without completely sacrificing the virtues of the genre. With a capacity like Dallas Toler-Wade being the mainman behind the project, it´s not really a surprise what a great energetic and high quality death metal release this is, but then again you never know what´s gonna happen when you take one important ingredient out of a well working formula (that would be Nile) and make him stand on his own two legs. I think it went well this time around and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.