Artist: Deceased
Country: USA
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Formats: 2CD
Year: 2025
My guess is, since you are reading this, that Deceased is a band that has a special place for you as well. Deceased has never been a trendy or very popular band; it ever served as an insiders favourite. The promo text that came with the this release kind of sums it up perfectly: “Deceased have been there for it all: death metal’s genesis, its creative peak, its commercial peak and subsequent sink into trendiness, the eventual fallout and “un-trendiness,” its rebirth at the hands of a new generation, and on and on”.
Untrendy Death Metal with lots of Thrash- and Heavy Metal elements in there, making it a rather unique and super recognizable band. In addition there is the band’s main man King Fowley being, somewhat of the ultimate figurehead of underground Death Metal, being the ever-enthusiastic and talkative person he is, it is almost impossible NOT to like Deceased. So, when the band hits its 40th anniversary, there should at least be something of a celebration. A stadium world tour might not yet be feasible, but instead Hells Headbangers and the band joined forces to compile some of Deceased’s best tracks, taken from basically every individual item of their extensive back catalogue. To make things a little more worthwhile for those yet familiar with all of these tracks there’s a few extras as well.
Reviewing a compilation album by such a revered act always feels a little redundant, but let’s just say that this is an voluminous collection of tracks that brings you past all records, from 1991’s classic ‘Luck Of The Corpse’ to ‘Children Of The Morgue’, their latest album from last year. But it this 40-year anniversary album wouldn’t feel complete if there’s weren’t a few cover tracks in here as well. Deceased has a long history of recording cover tracks, often demonstrating King’s love for the metal genre. In the interview I did with King last year, he already mentioned that this compilation CD was in the works and that it would also include some new covers. Venom’s ‘Lady Lust’ and Black Sabbath’s ‘Die Young’ are the chose songs for a Deceased-make over. Another bonus is the re-recording of two old tracks that originally appeared on the band’s very first demo from 1986. It is very interesting to hear ‘Sick Thrash’ and ‘March Of The Cadavers’ in a slightly updated version. But, perhaps not surprisingly, it gets really interesting with the two completely new songs.
‘Dusted’ and ‘Cure For The Grieving Widow’ show Deceased in optima forma, perfectly blending different genres into something that truly is unique. Their Heavy/Death Metal with a significant Thrash Metal edge, sounds just as fresh on these tracks as it does on ‘Children Of The Morgue’ (2024). Maybe slightly less melodic and with especially ‘Cure For The Grieving Widow’ sounding remarkably fierce and powerful. A brisk tempo and an impressive solo in the second half make this song a highlight in the band’s oeuvre of the last few years.
Although two re-recordings, two new covers, and two brand new songs may seem a little sparse for a total playing time of over two hours, the added value of this compilation lies mainly in the fact that it once again makes it abundantly clear how astonishingly underrated this band is.
Here’s to the next 40 years, I might add!
