Dead Soul - Planning Your Funeral (2013)

Dead Soul - Planning Your Funeral

If you ever needed further proof that the Thrash “revival” is now well and truly on its last legs, then look no further than DEAD SOUL’s “Planning Your Funeral”. Albums like this might have been fun in 2006 and perhaps somewhat irritating in 2010, but in 2013 it’s just unrepentantly sad. Sure, the revival circus has given us some great acts, but for every VEKTOR or HAVOK dozens of DEAD SOULs followed – middle of the road re-Thrash that’s as predictable as a Steven Seagal movie, and just as soulless.

As is often the case with these type of bands, the cover art is about ten times more captivating than the actual music. “Planning Your Funeral” is adorned with an image of a family shopping for caskets, with the mother gently holding a baby pram. There’s an obvious play on the cyclical nature of life going on here, but with songs bearing titles like “Set the Shit on Fire” and “Metal Mafia” any hopes of some profound reflection on mortality went straight out the window. If anything, the only cyclical element at play here is the relentless repetition and shameless rehashing of a sound that was once vital and vibrant.

It has to be said that “Planning Your Funeral” has a strong Death Metal influence to it, not just in terms of the growled vocals, but also the persistently pounding quality of the music. In a way this makes the album somewhat similar to fare like TESTAMENT’s “Demonic” or LAST RITES’ “Silverball”, two instances of Thrash bands’ ill-advised forays into pseudo-Death Metal back in the 90s. So it’s heavy, I’ll give them that, but the absence of even minimally catchy riffs, energy and a sly sense of humour make the album a boring and numbing experience. The only thing that stood out from the morass of recycled B-grade riffs was the vaguely Southern Rock-ish middle section of the aforementioned “Metal Mafia”. Apart from this fleeting moment of enjoyment the album is as bland as can be. By the numbers re-Thrash straight from the poorhouse.

copas from http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=6&id=20109

Tracklist:
01. Planning Your Funeral 04:42
02. Set The Shit On Fire 04:24
03. Neverending Pain 04:13
04. Made Flesh 05:44
05. P.M.D. 05:02
06. Metal Mafia 04:16
07. The Day I Died 06:21
08. Grab The Sand 05:18

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