Dead By Wednesday: Death of the Rockstar review

There is a new band out of New Haven, CT called Dead By Wednesday who are poised to steal the thunder from today’s metal elite. Although to be honest they are far from new, having been around since 2005 and releasing three full length studio albums since their inception. 2005’s Democracy Is Dead, 2008’s The Killing Project and 20012’s The Last Parade which is regarded by most fans and critics alike as their Master Of Puppets. The band have just released their latest EP for Ear One Productions entitled Death Of The Rockstar and are on the road this summer to support it. Death Of The Rockstar picks up musically where The Last Parade left off and takes it to the next level. The album was produced by Nicholas T. Rage and its title represents the death of one chapter in the band’s history, due to the loss of longtime guitarist Ross Ragusa who can still be heard on the title track. Anytime you push play on a cd and the first thing that comes bellowing out of your speakers is the word fuck, you know it’s going to be a wild ride. That’s exactly what you get with opener and title track “Death Of The Rockstar,” kicking the album off in epic fashion and sucking you in right from the start. ‘When In Rome” toggles musically somewhere between Trivium and Killswitch Engage and Joseph Lee Morbidelli’s vocals emulate Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against The Machine while the bone crushing grooves, abject ferocity of the riffs and scorching solos in “Left For Dead” make it easy to see why it is being played in heavy rotation on the Music Choice Metal station. The funkadellic bass lines in the choruses of “Shippwrecked” sound like Primus on crack and are the perfect complement to the Down-tinged moments in the verses and brutal breakdowns. At the same time, “Slores” combines elements of vintage Crowbar with Mushroomhead vocals and features a breakdown that would make Kirk Winstein proud. Here’s the bottom line- If this band can catch that one break need to explode, they could be the next big thing in metal. Rating: 8/10 -Eric Hunker