The Deadly – The Wolves Are Here Again / 2005 Pluto / 13 Tracks / http://www.thedeadly.com / http://www.plutorecords.com / Reviewed 11 April 2005
Mixing equal parts The Refused and Hatebreed, Philly’s own The Deadly infuse a little emotion into what was a very austere and cold genre. As per the usual, the clips which The Deadly use during “Minor Acts of Misbehaving” just add some unnecessary chaff to the track, and really detract from the energy and power that the band has during other parts of the CD. By far, the band comes into their own right during “The Poor Kids”, effortlessly mixing together punk, metal, and rock into a fresh sounding bit of intensity. The incorporation of traditional prog-metal riffs during “The Poor Kids” is special in the fact that these usually stand along and one just would not think to tie them together with the more mundane details of The Deadly’s style. The band’s dedication to making the shortest possible tracks really comes up as a disadvantage, as the are no clues that the band is in danger of treading into repetitious waters – tracks could conceivably go on for another minute instead of just being aborted seemingly in mid-riff. Where the band first peaked during “The Wolves Are Here Again” with “The Poor Kids”, the harmonies achieved during “We Are The Technology” are some of the most beautiful seconds to be heard on a disc. Just like Against Me’s “I Am Citizen”, the amount of noise present on the track cannot conquer what becomes some of the best music on the disc.
24 minutes is all it takes for The Deadly to make one of the most endearing albums of 2005. It only makes sense, as some of the best albums of all time are also the shortest – Minor Threat’s album barely cracked 20 minutes. However much I wanted to think before putting this album on that “The Wolves Are Here Again” would be a piece of over-indulgent, self-important tripe, the fact is that this is one of the most technically proficient and emotionally-involving albums to come out. Four years is admittedly not much time to do anything, maybe finish up a bachelor’s degree, but The Deadly have came and made the best hardcore album to come out this years after being around only since 2001. Sure, they may have a musical pedigree but even some of the best all-star bands aren’t all that impressive (Damn Yankees, anyone?). Ignore Converge, anything on Victory and just trek over to the local indie shop and pick up this album.
Top Tracks: We Are The Technology, Danger Endanger
Rating: 8.4/10