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Dead Earth Politics: Men Become Gods (EP)
Dead Earth Politics - Men Become Gods EP CD Album Review

Dead Earth Politics: Men Become Gods EP

Modern Heavy Metal
3.5/5.0

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Unsigned / Self-released
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 16.04.2015

I'll admit it. I only took interest in Dead Earth Politics for three reason. I liked the name; it sounds awesome, but doesn't need to mean diddly-squat. It just rolls nicely off the tongue. The album art is totally sci-fi fantasy cool. And they're from Texas, not the first place people think of for heavy metal in America. Maybe head on over to Gilley's for some Lone Star beer and a mechanical bull ride. Men Become Gods is the second in a trilogy of albums that began with The Queen of Steel.

Dead Earth Politics Men Become Gods EP Band Photo

Dead Earth Politics

Now I can add a fourth reason to like Dead Earth Politics: they play an interesting hybrid of heavy metal, sort of old school roughed up a little by modern metal. You can hear most anything from Iron Maiden to Metallica to Lamb of God. Mostly they sound like a mash up of styles like melodic metal and power metal made angry by modern thrash elements, then touched in parts by progressive metal. Yet unlike current modern metal bands, DEP isn't necessarily overtly harsh and hardcore. The "modern" tone comes mostly from the vocals, which are all over the place. Gruff. Growls. Some clean. Generally, just raw, razor, and grim. The vocals are probably the weakest link here.

Otherwise, the tunes are rippin' and roaring from a strong rhythm section and some nasty good guitar riffage and solos. The depth of bass and drums combined with the chord structure give the songs a bombastic, even epic, feeling. But I think the cuts I liked best were those that played with the complexity of the arrangement and had terrific guitar solo. Those being Men Become Gods and Crimson Dichotomy. The former has a nice mixture of tempos and a stinging solo; the latter, at three and a half minutes in has this guitar breakdown that reminds of some hippy metal fusion. Unfortunately, in the end, I wish I didn't have to hear the vocals. I know dirty vocals in metal are all the rage for commercial viability, but the vocals are reason I probably won't listen to this EP again.

Dead Earth Politics - Men Become Gods EP


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In Short

Dead Earth Politics play an interesting hybrid of heavy metal, sort of old school roughed up a little by modern metal. Mostly they sound like a mash up of styles like melodic metal and power metal made angry by modern thrash elements, then touched in parts by progressive metal.

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