Album/EP

Deathbeds - Sinner (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Mar 9, 2020

7 min read

Deathbeds - Sinner
Released: March 13, 2020

Lineup

Anthony Hyde / Guitar
Sam Moloney / Drums
Marc Beresford / Bass
David Oliver / Vocals
Benjamin Poulsen & Guitar
Kit Samin / Keyboard & Vocals

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Debut albums are tough. They’re the first big offering of your music to the world, and they’re a lot of work to put together and promote. Deathbeds, from Canberra, are one such band with Sinner as their first sacrificial lamb and I’d say they slit its throat well and laid it out all nice and neat.

I have so much respect for bands that choose to take on a concept album, and this one in particular is an interesting ride. Sinner follows the story of a priest abusing the sins in order of pride, greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, wrath, envy and ultimately winding up a heretic by the final track. What a journey! And a musical one at that. If you like progressive death metal, please read on.

We open with ‘Gods Way Is My Way’ and orchestral strings and a choir wash over you with a soft piano melody before just exploding. I’m talking rapid fire riffs and brutal vocals. And while it is heavy and hard hitting, there’s a technical aspect that’s going to really tickle people’s fancy.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlapkWfjNxc&w=640&h=360]

'What’s Yours Is Mine And What’s Mine Is Mine’ is an extremely long title but what proggy riffage we have here! And female vocals really bring in a strong, clear tone to counter the gutterals that punctuate the song. And if you needed some chug in your life, the opening to ‘Enough Isn’t Enough’ will surely fulfil that hole in your heart before exploring a creepy musical soundscape. A simple keys melody in minor chords paired with a clean chorus really emphasises the ‘offness’. A short but clever song.

This entire album so far screams of technicality, but ‘Indolent And A Lover Of Sleep’ sounds like they’re anything but lazy and they probably didn’t sleep while learning this track. Climbing riffs and a soft, atmospheric bridge lead into an uplifting last verse and with each listen this song just gets better and better. This one right here would have to be a favourite.

The shortest song on the album and the softest one too, is ‘Forgive Me Father For I Have Sinned’ and it’s beautiful. Can I just say that the clean vocals of Kit Samin are wonderfully adaptable in Sinner, creating atmosphere and on such a deep register, too. This song was the interlude we needed half way through because ‘Biggest Sin Of All’ is brutal. Think very guttural vocals over top of heavy metal chugginess and a soft keys melody underneath that is brought to the forefront at the end, and leads straight into ‘The New Hero Shall Suffer’. Following the same sort of vibe, but immediately picking up the pace. It’s frantic and chaotic and the tension builds uncomfortably though the entire song. It makes you want relief, and it finally comes with the closing track.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tmQyYeqNno&w=640&h=360]

‘Born Again Heretic’ is the finale of Sinner. Every track has built to this one, sonically and lyrically. It does not disappoint. I want drama, I want emotion, I’d also like some killer, proggy melodies – and we get all of that and more! Including a ‘blegh’ and some creepy, pleading lyrics ‘Help me God’ that really add another dimension to this track. Wow, what a closer.

Deathbeds have created a very detailed debut album. It’s smartly constructed, with light and shade that allows the listener not to get lost in the technical aspect, and Sinner is all the stronger for it. Props, Deathbeds. You did good.