Dead End Finland – Victory
Dead End Finland – Victory
Inverse Records
Release Date: 31/03/2023
Running Time: 41:36
Review by Richard Oliver
7/10
“Victory” is the fifth album from modern melodic death metal band Dead End Finland (no prizes for guessing the band’s country of origin). The band formed in Helsinki in 2007 and have managed to retain the same line up throughout the band’s entire duration which is very rare in the world of metal. It means that the musical progression from album to album has come from the same four people and “Victory” is definitely a good step forward for Dead End Finland.
For those who have never heard Dead End Finland before, they have a modern approach to melodic death metal, incorporating a lot of keyboards into their sound through symphonic soundscapes and heavy electronic elements with some very trance sounding keyboards. The melodies are very much carried forward by the keyboards and vocals with the guitars adding another layer of denseness to the band’s sound rather than driving the melodies and adding an extra rhythmic punch along with the bass and drums. This is easily the most symphonic sounding album from Dead End Finland to date, with sumptuous and epic orchestrations elevating songs such as ‘Wounded & Bleeding’ and ‘Up So High, Down So Low’. The vocals from Mikko Virtanen have always been a nice mix of harsh and clean vocals with a style not too dissimilar to Bjorn Strid from Soilwork, though this time the cleans definitely take the lead and the harsh vocals, though still in use, take a bit of a back seat on this album. It helps that Mikko has a great singing voice and gives us some right earworm hooks and melodies in songs such as ‘Heavy Rain’ and ‘In The Dark’.
“Victory” feels like the most well rounded and mature album that Dead End Finland have done so far. The songwriting is definitely taken up a notch and the album is afforded a massive production and mix which helps to showcase the excellent musicianship within the band. Though like a lot of modern melodic death metal it can get a bit formulaic and there are a few songs which are a bit on the generic and forgettable side of things but when this album hits its stride at the stand out songs on the album, it sounds fantastic. Not a perfect album but an immensely enjoyable one for those who like a modern metal sound.
‘Heavy Rain’ Official Lyric Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Northern Winds
02. Wounded & Bleeding
03. Heavy Rain
04. Beyond The Distance
05. In The Dark
06. Kaamos
07. Up So High, Down So Low
08. Delusions Of Grandeur
09. Bound To Be Reborn
10. Wrath Of God
LINE-UP:
Miska Rajasuo – Drums
Santtu Rosén – Guitars & Bass
Jarno Hänninen – Keyboards
Mikko Virtanen – Vocals
LINKS:
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