ninehertz

Rising from the slumber of Army Of Flying Robot's foreseeable lay-off, Dead In The Woods lay down some seriously heavy tunes for their first release. Recorded at Stuck On A Name studios in Nottingham, this CD comes in a cardboard sleeve, complete with intelligent lyrics and explanations of said tracks, and a wax seal of the band's logo on the back to keep it all together. You can't beat a well put together CD like this, anyone can throw a few tunes on Myspace for download, but it will never replace the joy found in throwing on a great CD or record, and checking out the complete package.

Musically, this lays somewhere between the slower-to-mid tempos of His Hero Is Gone and High On Fire, and an apt word to describe it would be crushing. 'Sunken Cathedral' kicks things off with a snaking guitar riff, before it's buried beneath the rest of the band joining in, and it doesn't let up for 6 minutes, as guitars trampled you like a herd of elephants, drums pound and vocals roar. The pace picks up slightly for 'With Us The Fire Lives On' with its driving and changing rhythms, before 'Retribution' finishes things off with more tight riffing and thundering drum fills. Speaking of drumming, the surprise package here is Henry, if you've only heard/seen him screaming for AOFR, he certainly knows his way around a kit.

So, great artwork and great music, giving you a glimpse of what these boys can do. More please.