Album/EP

Deadlights - The Uncanny Valley (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

May 19, 2021

7 min read

Deadlights - The Uncanny Valley
Released: May 21st, 2021

Line-up:

Dylan Davidson // Vocals
Tynan Reibelt // Guitar/Vocals
Josh O'Callaghan // Drums
Sean Prior // Bass/Vocals

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Brisbane's very own hidden gem Deadlights have cemented themselves as a force to be reckoned with in recent years. Continually breathing fresh life into the heavy genres is no easy task, yet, the lads in Deadlights make it seem effortless. Can this new release live up the 2017's Mesma which scored the band a signing to Greyscale Records? Let's find out.

Kicking things off is title track 'The Uncanny Valley', which begins with industrial synthesisers before clean vocals and beefy guitars are thrown into the mix. Abstruse time signatures make the instrumentals flow effortlessly in what I would call the perfect album opener. The song peaks at the outro as we move on to 'Schedule One'. High-intensity drumming continues this song's tempo on where the previous song ended. The delightful unclean vocals of Dylan Davidson creates space for enormous hooks throughout the chorus. Ending the track on a mosh inducing breakdown, I am left on the edge of my seat, anticipatingly waiting to hear more in the next track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSmgsIVhcxY

Groovy guitar riffs take us into 'The King Of Nowhere'. For the most part, this song plays on a slower tempo than the previous songs, which seems to give the big hooks throughout the chorus a lot more strength. Dynamic and dominating charge of drums in this offering puts Josh O'Callaghan in the limelight, where he seemingly can do no wrong. Picking the tempo back up is 'Born Of A Lie', belligerent harmonics emphasizes the guitars while the drumming strongly follows suit. The dynamics between clean and unclean vocals in this offering is outstanding, the way one compliments the other truly brings this piece to life.

Enticing drum beats introduces us to 'Contact'. This track is unpredictable, upon first listen it was hard to guess what was to come next and where this track might take me. Vocalist Dylan Davidson explores higher pitches screaming throughout fast paces intervals without presenting any strain, which is wonderful to listen to. Futuristic synth sounds quickly grab my attention during 'Electrodome'. This piece's tempo cleverly fluctuates immensely, ranging from a slow, melodic ballad to a hard-hitting mosh track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7t5C1DEUxk

The albums interlude, '[I See The Future]' seems to be a warning for humankind as a robotic-like voice speaks of seeing a dreadful future over the top of intensifying drums and chilling synthesisers. Beginning with beautiful clean vocals throughout the lengthy intro 'Echo Chamber' could easily be defined as a ballad. Impressive chord progressions capture my attention and leave me completely satisfied.

Recent Single 'Sudden Life/Sudden Death' instantly picks the tempo back up to a fast pace. Hard-hitting guitar riffs increase the song's potency as I bask in its brilliance. Again we get to experience the mastery that is the dynamics between the aggressive clean and higher-pitched unclean vocals, which is jaw-dropping, for lack of a better term. Capping off the song is a no holds barred breakdown. 'Pythia' is an impulsive onslaught of creative instrumentals that knows no bounds. Dominant melodies and commanding instrumentals demand that demand your attention are in full force throughout this diverse tune. Closing off the album is 'Frozen Over', this almost five-minute long track is an emotionally fuelled offering, which clearly highlights just how far this band has come since 2017's Mesma. As the track comes to a close, I'd hoped that the drawn-out outro never ends.

This is a more mature example of Deadlights. They have created what strikes me as an emotionally charged release that instantly makes me want to go tell my friends about it, while still staying loyal to the bands mosh music roots.