Striking while the iron is hot, German zombie metal sensation Dominum release their second album in two years with The Dead Don’t Die. A series of prime festival appearances like Graspop and Rock Harz plus touring opportunities with Bruce Dickinson, Avantasia, and Feuerschwamz elevate the status of the group. Assuredly these opportunities instill higher levels of confidence in the melodic power metal compositions delivered through these ten original tracks beyond the special throwback cover tribute song that finishes things.
Most of the songwriting contains a mix of riffs, hooks, and melodies that possess an air of familiarity to those who like catchy musical patterns easy to headbang along with, as well as choruses that convey complementary united audience support. You can imagine flames shooting to the sky next to the grim dark, horror/zombie-like themes that also connect in real life, second level metaphors – future favorites like “One of Us” and “Happy Deadly Ending” containing the right balance between modern bounciness and playful power metal frivolity. Listeners can expect an equal infusion of Dr. Dead’s keyboard programming as Tommy Kemp’s driving guitar tones – while vocally Dr. Dead sits in that register similar to Orden Ogan or Powerwolf as far as squeezing out aggression, anger, passion, and occasional gothic/light-hearted sarcasm. Favorites change daily – it’s hard not to get swept up by the circus-like music to choir bursts for “Can’t Kill a Dead Man”, the mysteriously alluring mid-tempo opener “We Are Forlorn” that has a bit of that 80s Accept-like stomp, or the periphery 80s synthwave aspects that sit within the uplifting “The Guardians of the Night” where you feel like you are riding high above the universe.
To pay tribute to the 40th anniversary of this song, Dominum also reach into German hard rock/metal history to put a spin on “Rock You Like a Hurricane” – a huge hit for The Scorpions from the worldwide smash Love at First Sting album. Of course it’s given a slightly bombastic twist, the larger than life choirs plus pulsating keyboard orchestration heightens the undeniable, timeless chorus that will never die. In the end, The Dead Don’t Die is a compact effort keeping the band’s profile front and center if you dig European-oriented melodic power metal with that modern hard rock punch.