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zerodegree surrealworld
Artist: Zero Degree
Title: Surreal World
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Release Date: 23rd March 2012
Label: Massacre Records


Album Review

A fresh face makes its way into the Melodic Death Metal world. ZERO DEGREE finally sees their debut ‘Surreal World’ released on Massacre Records for worldwide consumption and enjoyment whereas it was originally released independently in 2010. The music here as is top notch in Melodic Death Metal as it can get, drawing influences from bands like NIGHTRAGE, IN FLAMES, INSOMNIUM, and DEADLOCK (no female vocals though). After the brief instrumental ‘The Door To The Unknown’, ‘Tomorrow Dies Today’ opens with some highly melodic riffs and vocal structures that are very similar to mid era IN FLAMES with raw verses and some clean vocals during the chorus. Of course this is a rare phenomena since ZERO DEGREE doesn’t use this formula very much at all. Instead, tracks like ‘Whispering Age’ feature slower, more long winded guitar passages that have more melancholy to them and sound like they came from INSOMNIUM; tracks like these are darker but still harshly Metal enough.

‘Disease’ has some more technical guitar work that sounds much like Germany’s DEADLOCK, but without the keyboard or electronic bits. The only track that really does feature any electronic moments is ‘Surreal World’, which like ‘Tomorrow…’ is a bit of an anomaly for its rare features on the album. One excellent thing this album boasts- aside from production - is its pace. While some feel Melodic Death Metal bands like DARK TRANQUILLITY have gotten too slow or that AT THE GATES was too fast, ZERO DEGREE finds itself somewhere right in between so both parties can enjoy. The lyrics aren’t very cliché and feature raw emotion within the instruments. True the vocals can be a bit monotone and one sided, save for the clean bits on ‘Tomorrow Dies Today’, but compared to lots of other bands who just focus on the same cookie cutter formula, ZERO DEGREE has started themselves off in a good place. ‘Surreal World’ isn’t quite the dream it makes itself out to be, but it will definitely deliver listeners to a whole different place provided they like Melodic Death Metal or something very similar.


Tracklist

01. The Door to the Unknown - 00:52
02. Tomorrow Dies Today - 5:11
03. Frozen Alive - 5:03
04. The Storm and the Silence - 5:16
05. Grapes of Wrath - 5:40
06. Whispering Age - 3:54
07. Virus - 5:09
08. Disease - 5:08
09. Surreal World - 5:03
10. Where Angels Die - 4:08
11. The Fog - 5:08


Line-up

Tobias Dohle- Drums
André Möhwald- Bass
Sebastian Weißgerber- Guitars
Maik Badowsky- Guitars
Pascal Thiele- Guitars
Thomas Bertuch- Vocals


Website

http://www.zerodegreemetal.com/


Cover Picture

zerodegree surrealworld


Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10





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