Music Review: Adept - Death Dealers

At first glancing listen, Adept sounded like a band I was really going to enjoy. Then I took the time to listen to the whole thing through and I realized thar while some of it was fun, it was not something I could not get somewhere else, better. The entirety of it sounds all too familiar and while there are bits and pieces that I liked, the project as a while failed to raise above the mediocre. Sure, I could go easy and say that they play a style that I am a fan of and Death Dealers is a solid slice of what I love, but that would just be going to easy, going on the superficial rather than what is really there. It is best to go by what's there rather than rest on genre cliches that you happen to enjoy.



Yes, I realize that reads a little weird, but it is what it is. To like it because it is a genre you like is to be a fan and not hope for more in the music. There is nothing wrong with being a fan, there have been many times where I have let my genre fandom take over and allow me to champion something that may be less than it could be, but I could not quite do it with Adept.

Death Dealers does benefit from a slick production, it sounds really good with just enough of a live quality to counteract potential overproduction. The band also has a lot of energy, I can see this translating well to the stage, given enough room for both the band and the crowd o move around.

Adept hails from Sweden, the home of some of the world's greatest melodic death metal. However, Adept is not melodic death, not even close. Instead they are a metal core act in the grandest of American traditions. This includes some of the bad habits. It is my understanding that their debut album was considerably different, more screamo and more original and indicative of their talents. It would seem that the subsequent American tour cycle got into their blood and the sound shifted to this.

This is certainly an energetic release that is easy to get into if yo just want to hear a lot of what you have already heard. When it comes to originality and ability to stand out from the crowd, Adept fails. It is hard to quite put my fingers on it, but there is something about these guys that brings out a same old, same old reaction.

Not for nothing, there are moments that reveal their Swedish roots mixed throughout the album. There is a riff here, a quick melodic moment there, a hidden little lead run, and other little things that point to their Swedish origins. However, before anything fresh can inject itself we are back into the chugga chugga riffs that we have heard countless times before.

Now this album has its place, it is easy to listen to without having to pay attention to it. I have certainly heard worse. In a market saturated with metal core, Adept comes off as mediocre middle of the pack stuff. Not bad but you could do a lot better.

Mildly Recommended.