MORKAST - Deadlands
Self Released
Here's an act that took a few listens in order to fully get what's going on with them. Honestly many acts are easy to pigeonhole and then there's the ones with plenty of baggage to open. First off this band comes from my nation's heartland aka: Ohio. Before I move on I'd like to point out that when certain people look upon American Metal and it's scene they see places like New York, Florida, NOLA or the whole Western Coast as it's meccas. Ah no, if you look at it all as a body then those are it's limbs. The heart and soul of American Metal is in the Midwest with it's bastions of working class burgs. Remember British Metal didn't come from London. It came from Birmingham. Remember that.
The second thing to mention is that the band self describe their sound as progressive death metal. Personally I don't think so. If anything it's basically great American metal. MORKAST draw upon a slew of influences in order to forge an impressive sound albeit not totally original. First off you've got good death thrash styled riffs and galloping rhythms. Vocals are a combination of basic death metal deep throat and harsh screams. We're talking something out of the melodic death metal handbook here but they're not taking the Swede-deth train.
What sets this band apart as far as I'm concerned is their guitar lead work. There's a combination of blues based leads as well as classical styled ones (someone likes Yngwie) which all scream 80's fuckin metal. Also give some props to the drumming on here because this guy goes effortlessly from basic rhythm to dynamic fills to blastbeats to trigger stationary beats with some jazz tom work. Basically he's keeping thing exciting. A second thing this band incorporates well is some eclectic song tempo sequences. It's something that straight up melo deth bands lack if it's not obvious. If ya wanna use the term "progressive" than that's probably where it applies.
Earlier I said that musically what MORKAST is doing on here is not original. That's not meant as a slight against them at all. In fact they remind me of a band, also from Ohio, who came out a little over a decade ago. I'm talking about SKELETONWITCH who are playing nearby in the coming weeks. I won't say what MORKAST do on here is copying. Actually it's more like following in another's footsteps and enhancing a sound which in 2019 is all their own. I look at this as a great demo for a band who should have this release put forth to the masses. Hey kid, you like Metal? Then kiss the boot, nuff said.
https://morkast.bandcamp.com/?
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https://www.facebook.com/morkast
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