For Arizona-based heavy metal act, Ded, it seemed like something was missing from the music genre they loved. Ded was formed from a friendship that blossomed into a musical relationship. With a strong Dedication to create something different, the band quickly got to work on their first full-length album. With a unique blend of metal, punk, hip-hop, and horror elements, Ded’s musical diversity and sound quickly gained them the attention of the festival circuit. Seizing the opportunity to capture a new fanbase and rub elbows with some of the bigger names in the international metal scene, the band quickly began to rise on the active radio rock charts.
With the band’s upcoming release of their debut album, Mis-An-thrope, scheduled to hit the market on July 21st, 2017, I was given an advanced copy of the album to write this review. So, what can fans expect?
Well, if you are sensitive to the word “fuck”, you might want to pass on this one, because Ded’s lyrical content is strongly based on the multiple ways to use the word. Honestly, they say it more than I do during a ten-hour shift at my day job in a warehouse, and trust me, I use it as a noun, adjective, and verb multiple times throughout the day.
The album itself bounces around a bit, having tracks that are strong metal, hip-hop, and punk influenced, but for me the punk influenced songs stuck out to me a bit more than anything else. Mixing the hard-hitting vocals and lyrics with softer melodic singing hooks, I seemed to gravitate towards these tracks a bit more. The second track on the release, “Anti-Everything”, contains strongly hip-hop-based verses, but then in the hook the band reverts to a Papa Roach style, which in my opinion worked out so damn well, it’s by far my favorite track on the release.
The second stand-out track for me on Mis-An-thrope was “FMFY”, short for ‘Fuck Me Fuck You’, which in my opinion the strong punk vocals mixed with heavy metal instrumentals, created a song that was both fun and refreshing. What can I say, I like the work ‘fuck’, so this track quickly moved up the ranks for me.
Overall, I think that Ded have created a very strong debut record with Mis-An-thrope. At first listen, I think the band wrote the songs for live performance, the opening track “Architect” is one of those crowd participation songs that I can envision turning into a Slipknot “Jump the Fuck up” moment in the future as this band continues to grow.
You’ll want to check this one when it hits online streaming services and stores in late July.
