Deadend in Venice – See You on the Ground

Deadend in Venice is a melodic death metal band hailing from Germany. “See You on the Ground” is the band's first album. I’ve been writing up a number of metal bands recently that feature female lead vocals; some that include male vocals and some that do not. Lately, all of those bands were in the symphonic metal vein, but today is a little different since Deadend in Venice plays a generally heavier brand of metal.

One of my all-time favorite albums to feature a melodic death metal style with clean female/harsh male vocals is Dismal Euphony’s 1999 album “All Little Devils.” That was one of the first albums, in my opinion, to do this style perfectly. “See You on the Ground” does not sound like “All Little Devils” but the style alone was enough to remind me that I need to dust that album off again sometime soon.

So, yes, the male vocals are harsh and the female vocals are clean. Normally I’m used to this vocal combination accompanied by vast, epic sounding musical landscapes, but “See You on the Ground” is a lot more compact sounding. You might think that is a criticism, but on the contrary, I find it particularly refreshing to hear something more down to earth. Whenever I hear symphonic bands I picture them performing in wide open plains with the wind whipping through their hair, and probably a little too much makeup. With Deadend in Venice, I can enjoy the music and also picture myself seeing them in a bar and banging my head in the pit. I guess what I’m saying is that it feels more personal and relatable?

The music is fairly standard melodic death metal. As a former guitar player, I enjoy a lot of the guitars on the album. I think the dual vocal combined with the melodic death style of the music is what appeals to me the most. When I first started listening to the album, I thought it was ok, but did not see it growing on me. Well, I was wrong. The more I’m listening to it the more I like it. Alas, with nine songs at only 33 minutes I guess my one complaint is that there is not enough. Though, I suppose leaving me wanting more is better than giving me more than I know what to do with in a single sitting.