Death Tribe – Beyond Pain and Pleasure: A Desert Experiment (Self-Released)
Wednesday, 27th February 2019
To really understand Death Tribe, one does need a bit of the backstory. Conceived while Anthony Kaoteon was living in war-torn Beirut, he fled to Dubai and further fleshed out the ideas with other people that would eventually become Death Tribe. He has assembled a core of musicians with Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Alkaloid, Kaoteon) and Mattias Landes (Dark Fortress), and gathered some other vocalists from the Middle East to fill out the rebellious force.
Given the slew of vocalists at hand, Death Tribe uses variety to their advantage. In listening to the album, there’s no real simple answer as to “What does Death Tribe sound like?” An amalgamation of death, black, thrash, groove, and traditional metal doesn’t really do it justice but it’s a starting point. That said, each track does its best as an individual effort to not stick to one thing specifically. Even in the first track alone, “Hollow,” you’ll get bits of groove, moments of thrash, and some weighty tech-death influences (mostly in bass use, though more guitarwork of this variety rears its head in “Implode Explode”). It all comes together though, and never does it feel like the band is disjointed in tone or trying for too much. Even the biggest offshoots like the more traditional metal feel of “Death Blues” swerves into some blackened influences, and the thrashy “Face the Facts” embraces a groovy swagger but the attitude strangely fits with more blistering death metal-themed tracks like “Neurotic Breakdown” and “Nuclear Hate.”
There’s a little bit of everything on Beyond Pain and Pleasure, but it’s done in a way that’s thoroughly genuine and enjoyable. An album full of the rebellion and resistance it encourages in its spirit, it never bows to providing a streamlined experience either. As a rather busy spring music season approaches, this one is worth a thorough investigation.
