DECEASED — The Blueprints for Madness (review)

DECEASED — The Blueprints for Madness album cover Album · 1995 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Blueprints for Madness" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US death metal act Deceased. The album was released through Relapse Records in September 1995. It´s the successor to "Luck of the Corpse" from 1991, although "The 13 Frightened Souls" EP from 1993 bridges the gap between the two full-length studio releases. There´s been one lineup changes since the debut album as guitarist Doug Souther has been replaced by Mike Smith. The original release featured 11 tracks, while later reissues add a cover of The Doors "Not to Touch the Earth".

The reason why I mention the reissue bonus track, is because it explains pretty well what sort of death metal act Deceased are. They may play old school thrash metal influenced death metal as their core style, but there is an adventurous and creative nature to their music and an occasional psychadelic touch too. Tracks which seemingly are simple (sometimes punk influenced death metal), almost always feature some sort of twist or structurally unconventional section. Those sections often ensure that the music is interesting and original, but there are times when they don´t work like the acoustic section with spoken words which opens "The Creek of the Dead". That is just a bit cringe worthy.

The band are fairly well playing and put on the right authentic organic performance, which suits this type of music perfectly. Drummer/Lead vocalist King Fowley is the main attraction here, as his vocal performance is quite diverse. Raw screams, brutal growling, spoken words, and raw thrash metal type vocals, and most of the styles delivered with conviction. There is a nice aggressive and occasional almost hysterical quality to his vocals, which is quite enjoyable.

The sound production is a bit of a mess though, and doesn´t help the material to shine. Especially the thin guitar sound, and how the instruments and vocals are balanced in the mix, make "The Blueprints for Madness" a bit less enjoyable to listen to than it could have been. It´s not a major issue and the adventurous songwriting and organic delivery make up for some of it, so a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.
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